An inquiry announced this morning will investigate whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the three Phillips children. 

Attorney-General Judith Collins announced the inquiry, saying it reflected the “significant public interest” in the case and “concern for the children’s welfare over the almost four years they were missing”. 

Tom Phillips vanished in December 2021 with his three young children from Marokopa, on the Waikato coast. After years of searching for the family, police killed Phillips in a shootout on September 8 this year, during which an officer was also critically injured. 

One of his children was with him when he died, and the other two were found alone at a campsite later that day. 

Collins said the inquiry would “establish the facts and determine whether agencies could take steps to prevent or resolve similar situations more quickly and effectively in the future”. 

The inquiry will be led by Justice Simon Moore, KC, who served as a judge of the High Court for 11 years and is currently the chairman of the Electoral Commission. 

The Government is expecting a final report with recommendations by July 21 next year. 

The terms of reference for the inquiry have also been announced, with the Government saying they were developed with “the privacy and welfare of these especially vulnerable children in mind”. 

“The inquiry will therefore be conducted in private and without public hearings. It must also respect the independence of the courts and will not include findings on judicial decisions.” 

Within the scope of the inquiry is the nature and extent of government agencies’ involvement with Phillips and the children before and after their disappearance. 

This includes: 

• Legal options available to government agencies and the actions they took relating to the care of the children, including whether and how such agencies engaged with the Family Court before and after September 2021, and whether more effective engagement might have occurred 
• What government agencies knew about Phillips and his activities before and after his disappearance in September 2021 until his death in September this year and, based on that knowledge, what steps (if any) it would have been reasonable for those agencies to take, or that they could or should have taken, to prevent the disappearance of Phillips and the children or bring it to an end sooner 
• Whether there are any practicable steps that government agencies should take to prevent similar situations from happening again, or to protect children caught in such a situation. 

The inquiry can also look into how Phillips obtained and maintained a gun licence, weapons and ammunition. 

For the purpose of the inquiry, a government agency includes police, Oranga Tamariki and any other public sector agency that: 

• Had an actual or potential role to play in proceedings before the Family Court in respect of the children 
• Had an actual or potential role in locating the children after their disappearance 
• Otherwise had a role or responsibility in respect of the children’s safety or welfare from 2018 until they were located. 

Outside of the scope of the inquiry is any government agency involvement after the children were found. 

On this, the terms of reference say: “There has been extensive litigation in the Family Court involving the children, and that litigation is ongoing or under appeal. There is also unresolved litigation brought by the news media seeking to challenge court-imposed restrictions on publication of matters relating to the children. 

“Given the importance of the matters in issue and the need for a timely report on those matters, the Government has decided that the inquiry should commence and report promptly. Some of the litigation referred to above may still be unresolved while the inquiry is under way or before it reports. 

“In undertaking its work, the Government expects and directs the inquiry to respect the independence of the courts and not comment on or inquire into judicial decisions concerning the children, including suppression orders made in respect of the children. 

“The inquiry is not to inquire into legislative, administrative and policy settings for the New Zealand firearms licensing system. 

“In accordance with section 11 of the Inquiries Act 2013, the inquiry has no power to determine the civil, criminal or disciplinary liability of any person but may, in exercising its powers and performing its duties, make findings of fault or recommendations that further steps be taken to determine liability.”