New Zealand agencies missed child kidnap warnings

A New Zealand inquiry found Tuesday that authorities missed warnings before Tom Phillips went on the run with his three children for nearly four years.

Phillips was shot dead by police in September 2025 after hiding with the children in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The children were recovered after the deadly shootout.

The 211-page report examined the period before the children were taken in December 2021 through to their recovery in September 2025. It found that agencies underplayed, minimised or overlooked the harm caused by Phillips isolating the children from family, friends and society.

“Our agencies did not take all practical steps to protect you,” government minister Louise Upston said to the children. “For that we are deeply sorry.”

Phillips had first disappeared with his three children in September 2021 for 18 days. The report said police were then seriously concerned that he might take the children away again, but those concerns were not passed to the Ministry for Children.

The inquiry also found that police failed to identify and seize his firearms after he lost his licence around the same time. It said those steps could have helped recover the children sooner.

The report said social workers ignored concerns raised by the children's older step-siblings in the two months before Phillips took the children again. One step-sibling asked whether the agency would be held responsible if the children went missing again, and another provided an affidavit that was never read.

Ministry of Children chief executive Amanda Malu said the ministry did not listen as it should have and that the family deserved better.