![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/cc1bf643-049c-4a97-9ecb-3d7d4a644fde.jpeg\")
The devastating discovery was made at a riverside campsite along the Murrumbidgee River. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\nA community in the NSW Riverina is grappling with grief and mounting questions after a newborn baby was found dead at a riverside campsite.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The woman and the surviving infant were treated at the scene before being taken to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.<\/p>\n
The devastating discovery was made at a riverside campsite along the Murrumbidgee River. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“A pregnant woman should never have been sleeping in a tent on a riverbank in 2026\u2026 We have known for years that homelessness in Wagga Wagga has been escalating at an alarming rate,” he told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“This is truly heartbreaking news,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The death of any member of our homelessness community is tragic, but the death of a newborn baby is beyond comprehension.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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