The Truth Revealed !

on  June 9, 1979 fire engines rushed to Luna Park, the iconic amusement park on Sydney's northern shoreline.  A blaze had broken out on the " Ghost Train " ride and people were trapped. When the fire was finally extinguished  seven people were dead and these included a father and six children.

There was immediate suspicion that this fire was  deliberately lit.   Patrons at the amusement park spoke of " bikie elements " talking about kerosene and matches.  It was rumoured that crime interests had their eyes on Luna Park because it was sited on government owned land and if Luna Park could be forced to close it would present a redevelopment bonanza.

There was an immediate enquiry, but the fire damaged site was quickly cleared away. Other park users who witnessed the tragedy were leaned upon to change their statements and eventually the fire was deemed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Later, the National Crime Authority held an investigation into the fire.  The authority was scathing about the original police enquiry and this report suggested that local crime figure Abe Saffron was involved. It was suggested Saffron coveted the park and wished to evict the tenants to gain control.  It was suggested some senior police were corrupt but the enquiry stalled for lack of direct evidence.

And so the matter rested, until the ABC produced a documentary titled " Exposed ".  The National broadcaster sought out witnesses to this twenty-two year old event and that included retired police officers.  It seems clearly evident that this was a coverup.  Abe Saffron was the crime identity running Kings Cross and he was a man with ambitions to reach new heights.  His power and his money reached across many boundaries and people in power were beholden to him.

Abe Saffron is long dead  and those forced to remain silent are now free of threat.  For a while Luna  Park was crippled by noise reduction rules and regulations, but now the worst of these have been lifted.  The Coroner is again looking at that Ghost Train fire and the state government is thinking of holding a new enquiry.

If that fire was deliberately lit by bikies working under Saffron's orders they would now be old men, but the long arm of the law can still reach them for this crime.  Many of the police involved are now either dead or retired and there may still be obstacles to the truth being revealed, but this is a major crime and now the plot has been publicly aired it can no longer be ignored.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the ABC for having the courage to open this amazing revelation of crime flourishing in our midst.  By dragging the events surrounding the Ghost Train fire kicking and screaming into the open we throw the light into dark corners of crime and corruption and make it harder for it to repeat itself.