Kate Hawkesby: Why wasn't more done after the first time Tom Phillips disappeared with his kids?

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Aug 30, 2022 · 3m

When Thomas Phillips first went missing into dense bush with his kids back in 2021, I wrote an editorial at the time saying police and welfare agencies weren’t taking it seriously enough in my view. There was a lot of talk at the time about leaving it to the community, leaving it to the family, trying to understand that rural New Zealand is different to what those of us in cities are used to.

I was criticized by people who said worrying about three kids in the bush with their Dad was over the top, it was middle class angst, that the kids were “probably fine” and that they’d be used to being…