Newborn baby dies at rough sleeper campsite along Murrumbidgee River in NSW’s south
A newborn baby has died after a woman gave birth at a riverside campground for rough sleepers in southern NSW.
NSW Police said officers from the Riverina Police District attended the campsite on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga Beach and located a 37-year-old woman and two babies.
Police confirmed that one of the babies had died.
“The woman and the surviving baby were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital,” a NSW Police spokesman said.
ABC reported that both babies were newborns in the specific area of the river where the sleepers were sheltered.
NSW Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson told the broadcaster the news was “heartbreaking”.
“There is still much unknown about this tragic incident and that is why I have asked Homes NSW to conduct a full investigation into the family’s circumstances,” he said in a statement.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and a report would be prepared for the coroner.
The death shook the local community; Wagga Wagga Councilor Richard Foley said he was “devastated” by the reports.
“I have no intention of hindering the police investigation and I offer my deepest condolences to the mother and everyone who loved her,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.
“I pray for the survival of the baby who is still fighting for his life. But I will not remain silent about what this represents.”
Mr. Foley said the death was a “direct and predictable” result of years of systemic failure by the state and federal governments to address the growing housing crisis citywide and across the state.
“I am sounding the alarm in parliamentary chambers, in the public and to anyone who will listen that if the situation on our river banks is not addressed it will end in tragedy,” he said.
“Vulnerable people, including women of childbearing age, are barely sleeping on the banks of the Wagga river.
“This has been documented. This has been reported. This has been brought up in council. In my opinion, not enough has been done yet.” “This crisis has been pushed around for too long across bureaucracies. This council is passing responsibility to others while state agencies, federal departments and, yes, at times, vulnerable people sleep on our river banks.”
