Cindy Wockner
Cindy Wockner is a senior reporter at the ABC based in the Southern Queensland newsroom in Toowoomba. She has previously served as the network investigations editor at News Corporation newspapers in Australia and has worked as a foreign correspondent. Cindy has co-authored three books: The Pastor and the Painter, Bali 9 and Evil in the Suburbs. She spent three decades covering crime, conflict, and legal affairs, and for seven years she was based in Indonesia, covering terrorist attacks, natural disasters and crime. She also spent two years reporting from Nigeria. She says she is passionate about highlighting injustices in Australia and overseas.
Latest by Cindy Wockner
Police investigate woman's suspicious death involving lawn mower
Officers are appealing for information as they try to understand how psychologist Frances Crawford, 49, died at her Queensland property.
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Religious group 'well within our rights' to believe God would save Elizabeth Struhs, leader tells court
Court hears from the alleged leader of religious group and first responder, who says Elizabeth's father was "calm and collected" after the eight-year-old's death.
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Members of religious group charged over death of Elizabeth Struhs prayed and sung over her body, trial hears
Members of a religious group charged over the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs spent a day and a half praying and singing over her dead body in the hope she would be raised from the dead by God, a Supreme Court trial has heard.
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Elizabeth Struhs spent last hours on a mattress on the floor as parents slept, court hears
The court heard the eight-year-old was left in the care of three members of a religious congregation of which the parents were also members.
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Trial to begin for 14 members of religious group charged over eight-year-old girl's death
A Brisbane courtroom has been modified to accommodate the large number of defendants being tried together, which includes the parents of Elizabeth Struhs, who died after she allegedly had her insulin medication withheld for days.
Bruce Lehrmann committed to stand trial on two counts of rape
The 29-year-old faces two counts of rape, alleged to have occurred in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021.
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Nuclear power could put these tiny towns in the national spotlight, but residents' opinions are divided
Nuclear reactors, if they are built, will be in the backyards of farmers such as Darren Jensen. He's thrilled by the prospect, but not everyone in town is.
Bruce Lehrmann's lawyers to make a 'no case to answer' application on rape charges
The complainant testified via video link from a remote location, with the court ordering Mr Lehrmann be obscured from the woman's view during her evidence.
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Bruce Lehrmann set to appear in Queensland court on two counts of rape
It's been a year-and-a-half since the charges first came before the courts. Monday will be the first time he has had to appear in person.
Elizabeth Struhs's father baptised into religious group four months before her death, court hears
It is alleged a group of six men and eight women, which included her parents, prayed to God to heal eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs, rather than seeking medical attention and held a belief that "God would heal".
Bonza fleet grounded for days as passengers scramble for flights
A federal minister says a bailout for airline Bonza is "not something that the government has before us" after the carrier went into voluntary administration.
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Trauma of family's lifetime with mental health system brought home by Bondi killings
The sister of a man whose schizophrenia diagnosis has been part of her family's life for 30 years says the mental health system, as she has experienced it, is non-existent.
Five weeks ago, Joel Cauchi sent his parents a message from a beach. The next time they saw him was on the news
A month ago, Joel Cauchi's parents were relieved to see a text message showing him enjoying life at the beach. Next time they saw him it was on national television as he attacked people in a Sydney shopping centre.
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'I'm sorry he's done this to the nation': Andrew Cauchi breaks down speaking about killer son
The parents of Joel Cauchi describe their son as tormented after he killed six people and wounded several others at Bondi Junction on the weekend.
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With 55,000 cars stolen across Australia last financial year, ABS figures reveal household crimes are rising in Qld and NT
By Cindy Wockner, Rachael Merritt, and Tobi Loftus
New data reveals the worst states and territories in Australia for car thefts, home invasions and other crimes during the last financial year.
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Young woman tells uncle he 'took away her innocence' after sexually abusing her regularly from the age of five
A Queensland woman says she has become "strong, resilient and powerful" and is proud of herself for fighting against the man who sexually abused her, as he is jailed for 10 years.
'Other potential victims' come forward after man faces court over alleged rideshare kidnapping
A man who police allege sexually assaulted a woman after picking her up in Toowoomba's CBD at the weekend has cried in court after being refused bail.
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TikToker who danced with sex doll during stalking campaign labelled 'neighbour from hell'
Toowoomba resident Ian Frank Bartholomew has avoided time behind bars after pleading guilty to a lengthy stalking campaign that left his victim feeling like a prisoner in her own home.
Queensland man jailed after raping own daughter 'every second day' for 11 years
The man, who the court heard considered himself "the worst kind of feral pig there is", started abusing his daughter when she was aged four. She was 15 when it ended.
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Queensland coasts top hot list for people ditching city life for cheaper, quieter living
By Cindy Wockner and Owen Jacques
Australia's capital-city dwellers are fleeing their home towns at a rate not seen since states still had COVID restrictions in place, and Queensland's beachside centres are proving the most attractive.
Complainant in Bruce Lehrmann alleged rape case to be cross-examined in Toowoomba
A Queensland magistrate has ruled that the complainant who alleges she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann will be cross examined during a committal hearing in June.
Mayor calls for better monitoring after 'surprise' flooding prompts evacuations in Queensland town
Twenty-nine people needed to be evacuated from Warra this week after water from three creeks converged on the south-west Queensland town, with the local mayor now calling for a better monitoring system for overland flows.
Mum wades into snake nightmare as she and son try to save chickens from floodwater
Michelle McKenzie realised she was not alone in the waist-deep water that was rising through her Laidley chook pen, counting 16 snakes trying to escape the water around her home.
Federal inquiry to probe claims of a 'confusopoly' of 'soul-crushing' insurance nightmares after 2022 floods
The desperation and despair of flood victims has been laid bare by submissions to a federal inquiry into the insurance industry's response to the 2022 floods, which resulted in claims worth a total $7.4 billion being lodged.
This remote pub has survived 148 years, but floods have thrown it a new challenge
By Cindy Wockner, Tobi Loftus, and Victoria Pengilley
From heroic helicopter and tinny rescues to shocking damage and crocodiles in town, the Far North Queensland flood disaster shows life there at its best and worst.
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