'Beyond comprehension:' Regional community in mourning after newborn found dead at campsite
A community in the NSW Riverina is grappling with grief and mounting questions after a newborn baby was found dead at a riverside campsite.
Emergency services were called to Cadell Place in Wagga Wagga on Saturday afternoon, where police found a 37-year-old woman and two infants. One of the babies had died.
The woman and the surviving infant were treated at the scene before being taken to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.
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The devastating discovery was made at a riverside campsite along the Murrumbidgee River. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident, which occurred at a site along the Murrumbidgee River understood to be housing rough sleepers.
For Wagga Wagga City Councillor Richard Foley, the tragedy is the inevitable result of a regional housing crisis that has been allowed to spiral out of control.
"A pregnant woman should never have been sleeping in a tent on a riverbank in 2026… We have known for years that homelessness in Wagga Wagga has been escalating at an alarming rate," he told nine.com.au.
He's calling for an urgent review of what services had contact with the family and why safe accommodation was not secured, alongside immediate coordination between council, state and federal authorities.
At a broader level, Foley said more transitional housing and properly funded support services were needed on the ground, adding that councils alone could not address the magnitude of the issue.
NSW Housing and Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson described the death as "beyond comprehension" and confirmed a full investigation into the family's circumstances had been requested.
"This is truly heartbreaking news," she said.
"The death of any member of our homelessness community is tragic, but the death of a newborn baby is beyond comprehension."
Jackson said Homes NSW had been in contact with the family over some years and that discussions were underway with local representatives about what further action could be taken.
She pointed to the state's housing-first policy, including funding for new homes and expanded homelessness services, while acknowledging that incidents like this underscore the scale of the challenge.
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