Residents feel unsafe in their homes as crime triples in Queensland town of Wondai
By Peter Sanders and Elly Bradfield
Posted Thurs 9th Jan 2025 link)
Wondai has seen crime surge in recent months. (Facebook: Wondai Crime Chats)
In short:
Crime has tripled in Wondai from 13 offences in July to 41 in December 2024, the highest recorded in the past two years.
Residents say they are scared in their own homes and want a local police presence to return.
What's next?
The state government says arrests have been made and it will continue cracking down on crime.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve, five boys are rummaging through a car parked on a driveway in Wondai in Queensland's South Burnett.
Their movement activates the home's security light and camera with the boys quickly fleeing, but not before two of their faces are caught on film.
For about 2,000 residents in Wondai, this activity has become increasingly common.
Wondai is a rural town, 230 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, in cattle and grain-growing country. The timber industry played an important role in its early settlement and the town boasts a timber museum.
Crime in the rural town has tripled from 13 offences in July to 41 in December, which includes property offences such as unlawful entry, theft, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and arson, according to Queensland Police.
The new LNP government was elected on a promise to make Queensland safer, with its new "adult crime, adult time" laws passed in its first six weeks.
But with the police station in Wondai unmanned, locals are worried crime will become more severe — and frequent.
'I just cannot sleep'
Wondai resident Eileen Beer is scared after two cars were stolen from her aged care unit in less than one month. (ABC Southern Queensland: Elly Bradfield)
One of those locals is 90-year-old Eileen Beer, who had been enjoying her move to a retirement village unit opposite the police station until she had two cars stolen within a month.
Rattled by the first instance, the second theft put her "over the edge".
"I've had so many showers and I still feel dirty because I don't know where and how much they really touched," she said.
"Now I'm not sleeping … two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning I'm still wandering around.
"I just cannot sleep — I'm terrified."
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Ms Beer said the intruders left a knife and a screwdriver in her unit, an unsettling sight for the mother of eight.
She said her fellow aged care residents had also experienced crime.
"We're all little old ladies and we're all locked in like we're in Fort Knox," she said.
"We hardly speak to each other because we're not game to be out in case they're around."
'Borderless' policing
The Wondai police station will be unstaffed for more than a month. (ABC Southern Qld: Elly Bradfield)
Wondai Police Station has capacity for two officers but, due to staffing issues, resources were transferred to the nearby Murgon station in mid-December and were due to return by the end of January.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said a true reflection of staffing resources could not be assessed by the number of general duties staff at one particular station.
"The Darling Downs District has the discretion and flexibility to allocate police resources as needed," the spokesperson said.
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"This borderless policing model ensures our workforce is agile and adaptable and officers are no longer restricted to a static location."
These Wondai residents are concerned about escalating crime in their town. (ABC Southern Qld: Elly Bradfield)
But Wondai resident Sue Hullock, who had two cars stolen from her home in the past 18 months, said a local police presence was essential.
If we did have a police presence here, well that would improve things," she said.
"It's cost me about $12,000, which I really can't afford."
Ms Hullock said residents had trouble reporting their crimes to Policelink and wanted to be able to phone a local officer.
"By the time you'd explain [to the Policelink operator] where you are … you could be dead by then," she said.
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"It's not going to be very long before somebody is really hurt."
About 25 Wondai residents met this week to discuss crime in the region. (ABC Southern Qld: Elly Bradfield)
'More needs to be done', says Attorney-General
The issue is personal for Queensland's new Attorney-General and Justice Minister Deb Frecklington who, as the Member for Nanango, represents the South Burnett community where this crime spree has been taking place.
"We've got nurses who are trying to get to work and their cars are being stolen by these hardcore, repeat juvenile offenders who think that the South Burnett is fair game," she said
"Well I'm here to tell them, it is not fair game."
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She said police were working overtime to catch "hardcore juveniles" with Taskforce Guardian in the South Burnett.
Crime statistics illustrate the rising crime rate in the town. (Supplied: Wondai QPS Division)
The taskforce is a joint effort from Youth Justice and the Queensland Police Service aiming to target youth crime hotspots.
"Six juveniles have been arrested [this year] and they have been denied bail, so are remanded at the moment … and let's hope we can get the rest of them," Ms Frecklington said.
Despite the efforts, Ms Frecklington admitted police needed more resources.
"More needs to be done because if we have the police on the ground then the kids can be arrested if they've done the wrong thing," she said.
She urged the community to ensure any crimes were reported to police.
Alarming 'spike in crime'
Many of the town's elderly residents say they no longer feel safe in their homes. (ABC Southern Qld: Elly Bradfield)
South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff said while authorities were addressing the issue, she understood why the "spike in crime" was concerning for Wondai residents.
"I think that people are worried because Wondai has always been known to be a wonderfully safe place and to just have that kind of spike in crime is alarming for the community," she said.
That's been the case for Neville and Lynette who have lived in Wondai for 15 years.
The couple, who asked for their surname to be withheld for safety reasons, love their little town but said the crime had them "on edge".
Six years ago, their car was stolen and their house was ransacked.
They experienced another break-in 12 months ago and a further break-in attempt six weeks ago.
"It's a terrible feeling when your personal space, your own inner sanctum, has been violated, uninvited," Neville said.
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