NSW Premier Chris Minns stood in a budget estimates hearing on Thursday and publicly declared that missing teenager Lily Hooper was alive. She was already dead, and on the police's own figures her family had been informed 11 minutes before he spoke on the parliamentary broadcast.
Lily Hooper, 18, from Oakdale, had been missing in Nattai National Park for eight days. An SES volunteer discovered her body in dense bushland around 11.30am. Police confirm the family received the devastating news within 8 to 10 minutes. Yet at 11.51am, Minns announced to parliament that she was alive, reading out a note that had not been confirmed.
That unverified message travelled from police command, through the police minister's office, and directly into the Premier's hands. The message was wrong when it left the search line and it was still wrong when it reached his hands. Scrambling to deflect responsibility, Minns told reporters on Friday that "if the protocol is not in place then we need to fix it".
NSW Police published an 82-page media policy in 2022 that explicitly governs public death disclosures. The guidelines exist, sit on a public website, and dictate exactly when fatal news can be released. Minns is blaming an administrative gap that does not exist, when the failure of oversight sits inside his own office.
Police told family about 11.40am of death while Minns broadcast she was alive at 11.51am
| Time | What happened |
|---|---|
| 11.30am | An SES searcher finds Lily Hooper's body in dense bush |
| About 11.40am | Police tell her family she has died |
| 11.51am | Chris Minns tells parliament she has been found alive |
| 12.16pm | Chris Minns tells parliament she has died |
The 11.51am and 12.16pm times are taken from the NSW Parliament webcast of the hearing. The find time and the 8 to 10 minute gap before the family were told are the figures given by NSW Police.
The uncorrected official transcript captures the exact moment Premier Chris Minns derailed a parliamentary hearing with completely unverified information. Minns was being grilled by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick regarding the state uranium mining ban when he suddenly cut off his own sentence mid answer.
"We don't have plans to reconsider it, but we will look at it. We've got some fantastic news, Mr Chair. Lily Hooper has been found alive in the bush, with half a bottle of water with her. That is fantastic news."
Minns then asked the committee for its indulgence to publicly thank NSW Police, the SES, the Australian Defence Force and "literally, the hundreds of volunteers", telling the room that Lily's family would be "just over the moon".
At 12.16pm, while Liberal MLC Natalie Ward was mid question, Minns interrupted the hearing a second time to deliver a devastating correction.
"I've got some terrible news. I apologise to the Committee, but it seems as if the early advice was wrong. Lily's body's been found. She's been found deceased."
The recorded transcript captures committee chair Jeremy Buckingham uttering just two words in response: "Oh, my God!"
SES Commissioner Mike Wassing later revealed on Friday that code words used by search crews are "usually associated with some aspect like that in terms of bottles of water", confirming that police and the SES are investigating whether internal code words failed. But regardless of search terminology, Minns broadcast that note to the entire state before anyone had confirmed it.
NSW Police already have the rule Chris Minns says he'll write
Premier Chris Minns insists his government must write new rules after he falsely declared a deceased teenager alive on live television. But the guidelines he says may not be in place have been public for more than four years.
The NSW Police Media Policy was published in May 2022 and updated in January 2024. On public death disclosures, the written policy is completely unequivocal:
"Never release the names of people who have died until next of kin have been informed and provide their consent, and have had time to tell other family members."
| What the police rule says | What happened on Thursday |
|---|---|
| Don't release a death until next of kin have been told and have given consent | Chris Minns announced it on a live parliamentary webcast |
| Don't release a name until the body has been formally identified | Police said the body was still “yet to be formally identified” |
| Correct false information about a death only with the Coroner's Court's approval | Chris Minns corrected it himself, 24 minutes later |
Left column: NSW Police Media Policy, version 9.2, January 2024. That policy binds NSW Police. It does not bind the Premier's office, and there is no equivalent rule that does.
The 82 page document sitting on the police website explicitly states that names can only go out "once formal identification of a body has been effected". It further dictates that if false details about a death circulate, police must obtain Coroner's Court approval before issuing any public correction.
Police followed their own policy to the letter on Thursday, issuing a statement that the body was yet to be formally identified and was believed to be Lily Hooper. Police put that careful wording in writing, while Minns had already barged onto a televised parliamentary hearing twice to announce her status.
Minns is not bound by the police media policy, and that remains the deadly hole in state leadership. NSW Police have a strict written rule on when a death goes public. The Premier's office operates without one, and on Thursday, political impatience outpaced basic verification.
Chain of command points to Yasmin Catley: unverified death note passed directly to Premier Minns
Police Minister Yasmin Catley mapped out the chain of failure herself, admitting to reporters that police contact her office and her office contacts the Premier's office. That exact pathway is how the false message reached Chris Minns before being broadcast live to the state.
Catley is the same minister who stripped NSW gun owners of their NCAT appeal rights while branding it closing a loophole. She has repeatedly survived calls for her sacking, largely because Minns refuses to hold her to any standard of performance.
Minns doubled down on protecting her on Friday, telling reporters, "I made a point not to single out an individual or person," before offering vague generalities that "everyone's got to take some responsibility and accountability, including me". Despite the empty rhetoric, not a single person in the Labor government has been named or held accountable for transmitting a tragic, unverified claim about a dead teenager.
Catley faces her own budget estimates hearing for Police and Counter Terrorism on Friday 28 August. That hearing represents the very first opportunity under direct questioning to force answers on why an unverified death notice was allowed to sit in her office and be handed directly to the Premier.
Coroner to determine cause of death while Minns government escapes independent review
A post mortem has been conducted, and the Coroner will officially determine how Lily Hooper died. Speculation and unconfirmed reports claiming her death was caused by a snake bite have not been validated by police, the Coroner, or her grieving family.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon issued an unreserved public apology, attempting to write off the horrific misstatement as an emotional lapse at the command post. "Certainly, those at the command post were elated. Tragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation."
Lily's father, Jim Hooper, offered a heartbreaking tribute, saying, "I feel blessed we had her in our lives for a time." In a show of community solidarity, the town of Oakdale illuminated its buildings in purple over the weekend.
Despite the profound gravity of broadcasting a false live update to the state, no independent inquiry has been announced. Lanyon and the SES will conduct their own internal review, effectively allowing the police force and the government to investigate themselves. Meanwhile, NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane offered basic condolences and stopped short of demanding external scrutiny, leaving the Premier's operational failure completely unchallenged.
