Key facts
- New Zealand has apologized to three children who lived in isolation with their fugitive father, Tom Phillips, for years.
- An inquiry found that authorities failed to protect the children and missed opportunities to intervene.
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologized for the impact on the children and acknowledged they were let down.
- The inquiry criticized agencies for underplaying the harm caused by the children's significant periods of isolation.
- Police did not initially launch a search and rescue operation due to a "misconceived view that there were no concerns for the children's welfare".
- The inquiry found Tom Phillips was not completely cut off from the outside world, visiting his mother and making significant purchases.
New Zealand has issued an apology to three children who lived in isolation in the bush for years with their fugitive father, Tom Phillips, who died in a police shootout. An inquiry into the case found that authorities failed to protect the children, with missed opportunities and a "misconceived view that there were no concerns for the children's welfare" leading to a lack of timely intervention.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated on Wednesday that there were "missed opportunities" and apologized for the impact on the children. The inquiry, authored by former High Court justice Simon Moore, found that agencies involved had "underplayed, minimised or overlooked" how the significant periods of isolation harmed the children. The report also criticized agencies for "often minimising" concerns raised by the children's mother, including those around firearm safety, as part of a "parenting dispute".
Photographs released by police show squalid campsites where Phillips hid with his children, containing firearms, ammunition, and beer cans amidst dense vegetation. The case had sparked public outrage over how Phillips evaded authorities for so long with his children. The inquiry noted that agencies could have more promptly followed up on reported sightings of Phillips and his children. It was also found that Phillips was not entirely cut off, visiting his mother in February 2022 and receiving NZ$1,000 and food, and later spending nearly NZ$6,000 in a single day in August 2023 on various goods.
Social Development Minister Louise Upton also apologized, acknowledging the children spent four years in "squalid conditions which deprived them of... a happy and healthy childhood." Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers admitted that police missed opportunities and that investigators "put [in] their hearts and souls" into the case, but emphasized that their ultimate responsibility was to recover the children.