NZ apologises to children forced to live in bush for years with fugitive dad

New Zealand has apologised to the three children of Tom Phillips who vanished with their father for years until he died in a police shootout after an inquiry found authorities failed to protect them. There were missed opportunities... and we're sorry about the impact that it's had on those children, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Wednesday. Agencies involved had underplayed, minimised or overlooked how the significant periods of isolation harmed the children, the inquiry found. When Phillips took his kids, then aged five, seven and eight, into the bush in December 2021, it wasn't the first time he had disappeared with them. Yet they would not be found for almost four years .