A major inquiry into the case of New Zealand man Tom Phillips, who hid his children in dense forest for years before he died in a police shootout, has criticized officials for not taking seriously enough the harms and risks to the children early in the saga of their disappearance.
The public inquiry — which is a formal, independent investigation of matters of significant importance in New Zealand — was launched in November 2025 to scrutinize how government agencies handled the case. It was prompted by outrage about how a father involved in court proceedings was able to evade authorities for almost four years, while forcing his children to live in rugged, squalid conditions in remote countryside without access to health care or education.
