{"id":894902,"date":"2026-09-17T04:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/894902\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T04:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:34:15","slug":"harrowing-reading-what-the-inquiry-into-nz-fugitive-father-tom-phillips-revealed-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/894902\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Harrowing reading\u2019: what the inquiry into NZ fugitive father Tom Phillips revealed | New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Agencies overlooked harm Phillips was causing<\/p>\n

Over \u201csignificant periods\u201d, police and Oranga Tamariki (OT), the ministry for children, \u201cunderplayed or overlooked\u201d the harm Phillips was causing before and after he vanished, the inquiry found. They were too slow to identify important information, and the search was launched too late.<\/p>\n

Police intentionally adopted \u201ca low-key approach\u201d, the inquiry said. \u201cThis strategy appears to have been predicated on the misconceived view that there were no concerns for the children\u2019s welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supplied image of Tom Phillips who had hid in New Zealand\u2019s wilderness with his three children for nearly four years. Photograph: New Zealand Police<\/p>\n

The inquiry found OT was dismissive of multiple concerns raised by the maternal family after Phillips\u2019 first disappearance, telling the family court the children were \u201ccompletely fine\u201d and further OT involvement was perhaps not needed.<\/p>\n

2. Significant family concerns minimised<\/p>\n

Had OT taken into consideration the significant concerns of the children\u2019s mother and two other sisters, they \u201cmay have prevented or made more difficult\u201d his second disappearance, the inquiry found.<\/p>\n

The sisters, who had lived with their stepfather Phillips for some years, repeatedly raised concerns over his pattern of isolation and harm he caused. The sisters were \u201cuniquely placed\u201d to comment on family dynamics and it was \u201cregrettable the agency did not meet with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCTV appears to show Tom Phillips and one of his children steeling grocery items from a store. Photograph: NEW ZEALAND POLICE\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s mother, named as Ms Smith, had told OT of Phillips\u2019 controlling behaviour towards her. The inquiry found OT failed to hear her concerns before Phillips disappeared the second time.<\/p>\n

She also notified police that Phillips stashed multiple firearms \u201call over the place\u201d six months before he disappeared. Police questioned her credibility because of a \u201ccustody dispute in the background\u201d and did not respond to her allegations.<\/p>\n

3. Phillips\u2019 state of mind and beliefs not treated seriously enough <\/p>\n

Police built a comprehensive profile of Phillips while investigating his first disappearance.<\/p>\n

His alcohol consumption concerned them, and his home was \u201cvery dirty\u201d. They formed the view he was controlling and difficult to live with.<\/p>\n

A person close to Phillips was concerned that, if cornered, he would turn \u201cviolent\u201d. Another told police he had a dislike of government agencies, \u201cmeaning anyone that might try to remove his children from him\u201d.<\/p>\n

Phillips held anti-vaccination views and had told family he and the children would \u201cjust disappear\u201d if there was another Covid lockdown.<\/p>\n

Photo released by police shows a campsite where Tom Phillips and his children were hiding. Photograph: NEW ZEALAND POLICE\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A 2021 police report, before his second disappearance, said Phillips was \u201cprepared to put the children\u2019s wellbeing at risk by hiding them\u201d to deny Ms Smith access.<\/p>\n

His firearms licence was suspended and police wanted him to access mental health support. But the inquiry saw no evidence that support was explored or provided by police.<\/p>\n

The inquiry found police did not adequately share information with OT, and OT should have more carefully considered mental health concerns. Better communication between the two \u201cmay have prevented, and would likely have made more difficult\u201d Phillips\u2019 second disappearance.<\/p>\n

4. Public sighting a missed opportunity<\/p>\n

In May 2023, a woman living near Marokopa, close to the Phillips\u2019 family farm told police a man had approached her house asking to jump start his car.<\/p>\n

She described a man fitting Phillips\u2019 profile and said \u201che smelled \u2026 like someone who had not had a shower in a very long time\u201d. She saw children in his car and late called police. A police unit was dispatched but, before it arrived, it was diverted to another incident.<\/p>\n

Map showing location of Marokopa<\/a><\/p>\n

The inquiry found no evidence the police attempted to visit the location of the sighting, or the woman\u2019s home. Police followed up the tip 10 days later.<\/p>\n

5. Authorities accept all recommendations<\/p>\n

The inquiry made nine recommendations, including urging agencies to better communicate, particularly in cases related to a child\u2019s safety and ensuring gun safety concerns raised by former spouses are \u201cactioned promptly\u201d.<\/p>\n

The minister for social development, Louise Upston, apologised to Phillips\u2019 children saying \u201cour agencies did not take all practical steps to protect you\u201d. The government accepted the 41 findings and nine recommendations.<\/p>\n

\"NZNZ fugitive father Tom Phillips killed in police shootout, authorities say \u2014 video<\/p>\n

The police commissioner, Richard Chambers, said it was \u201cclear there were gaps\u201d in communication and police should have put more resources into their investigation earlier. <\/p>\n

Oranga Tamariki chief executive, Amanda Malu, said the report made for \u201charrowing reading\u201d. She said the agency was immediately strengthening its checks and procedures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Agencies overlooked harm Phillips was causing Over \u201csignificant periods\u201d, police and Oranga Tamariki (OT), the ministry for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-894902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}