1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Jonesy and Amanda's I've been enjoying the ABC exposed series 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: Luna Park the Ghost Train Fire. 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,120 Speaker 2: And we spoke to the journal yesterday Caro. 4 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Meldrum Harrow, which is a classic ABC name right there. 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: But this is an extraordinary piece of journalism. 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 2: So the story so far in the nineteen seventies, was it? 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 2: Nineteen seventy nine there was a fire in the Ghost 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 2: Train at Luna Park. It's so terrifying and horrific the 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 2: scene that unfolded there. How many young people died. 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: So there were six kids that were killed and a parent, 11 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: four mates and two boys and a dad. 12 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, and a couple of siblings too in them. 13 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, So the two boys and their dad, And it's 14 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: such a I was such a big Lunar Park fan, 15 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: and I was of the age of those boys that 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: were the four mates that were killed. 17 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 2: And as we said yesterday, and that's what happened with 18 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 2: these boys. It was for many people of our generation, 19 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 2: this was a rite of passage to go to Luna 20 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: Park without your parents. This was a place of happiness, 21 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 2: of thrills, of intrigue, and that terrible fire that everyone 22 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 2: was told at the time was electrical. 23 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: The head copper that came down. Then the detective he 24 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: came down there and said that it was an electrical 25 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: fire that was responsible for the Ghost Train. Nothing else 26 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: to see here. But then when you watch this Uncovered. 27 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 2: Series, and there's three in the series. 28 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: There's three in the series. There's another one next week. 29 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: But the fuse box, for example, where the so called 30 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: fire started, was completely intact. There was power running through 31 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: the Ghost Train ride when the fire broke out, and 32 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: so if the fusebox had caught on fire, it would 33 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: have tripped the fuse and the electricity would have been running. 34 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: The Ghost Train test number one. Yeah, the cars were 35 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: coming out and they were actually on fire, and. 36 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 2: Didn't witnesses also say they could smell caroscene. 37 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: Well, this is the other thing. All the witnesses. There 38 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: was a popular of two witnesses, two young kids, that 39 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: said that they saw a bunch of bikey looking dudes 40 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: on the ride ten minutes before the fire. Eyewitnesses went 41 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: on to say they heard these bikis talking about kerosene 42 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: matches and you shouldn't have done that. Ten minutes later, 43 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,399 Speaker 1: the things engulfed in flames. The police dismissed all these witnesses. 44 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: So seven witnesses all said they saw these bikey guys 45 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: get on. 46 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 2: To the ride and also didn't they just dismantle the 47 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,239 Speaker 2: entire crime scene or the entire scene instantly. 48 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: Within two days, the whole thing was completely gone. There 49 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: was just the track and nothing else. 50 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 2: So what are the implications of this. This is what 51 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 2: Caro said on our show yesterday that the implications are 52 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 2: is that the head investigator, Yeah, it's crooked. 53 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: Well that's allegedly Dug Knight. 54 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 2: He was the. 55 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: Detective that was doing this, and he was the one 56 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: that was pursuing the line that it was an electrical fire. 57 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: They even put in the newspaper police looking for witnesses 58 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: that can oberate the electrical fire story. They didn't even 59 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: have witnesses to the electrical fire thing. And people in 60 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: the coroner's court were saying, well, no, it wasn't electrical fire. 61 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: It must have been something else. But the whole you know, 62 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: you look at it now. The investigation that we go 63 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: into to get to the bottom of things. 64 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 2: But even in a domestic five, a domestic insurance claim 65 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 2: has more thorough investigation than this. 66 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: You've got what you've got. The take home from this 67 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: is you've got seven witnesses that say they saw these 68 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: biky guys, they smelt kerosene and there was talk about 69 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: kerosene and matches and you shouldn't have done that. There 70 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: were seven witnesses. The police didn't question, didn't pursue any 71 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: of They let all these leads just run. And why 72 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: why that's the big question. So when you look at it. 73 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: So the other thing to take home is were they 74 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: just incredibly lazy you thought, oh, it couldn't be by 75 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: the dealing with this Saturday night, let's just just say 76 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: it was electrical fire. Or were they incredibly corrupt? And 77 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: that whole area Ludipark could have been a great casino 78 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: or something like that. So bags of cash are paid, 79 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: bikes around the set eventies were pretty well known for 80 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: doing standover work and things like that. 81 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 2: So the system was so corrupt, police politicians as well. 82 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 2: Be interesting to see next week how high up the 83 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 2: chain this goes, because if that, if that investigator is 84 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 2: sent in to wrap it up, who gave those instructions? 85 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: Seven people were murdered, that's right. 86 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 2: And it's horrific. So years later we're learning this. 87 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: Now you look at year, it's forty two years later 88 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: and you say, oh, well, you know time heels or words. 89 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 2: No, no, it doesn't. And we're still and rightly so, 90 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 2: prosecuting Nazis, you know, from World War Two. Statute isn't over. 91 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 2: And what an insight, a horrific insight into how our 92 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 2: society was running. 93 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: But you know what those bikis, those guys that were there, 94 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: one of those would still be There were seven of well, 95 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: there was between seven and nine of them that were 96 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: seen on that ghost train ride that night, so they 97 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: would have been anywhere between at the time sixteen to 98 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: twenty three in age. So those guys now would be 99 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: in their sixty someone knows something, Someone out there's conscience 100 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: would be just eating into their brain. So it's a 101 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: it's an amazing story and it's such a Sydney story 102 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: as well, with Joins and Amanda