September 8, 2025 • 8 mins
The children of fugitive Tom Phillips are still missing.
The Marokopa father was shot dead by police in the early hours of this morning, following a burglary in Waikato's Piopio.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he's confident the police will find and recover the children.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Police are running out of daylight to find the two
youngest children of Tom Phillips. His twelve year old daughter
is understood to be with police. She was with Tom
Phillips when he was confronted by an officer this morning,
shot at the constable and was shot dead in response.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is with me right now.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
How much hey afternoon?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Either any updated all on the kids?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, I mean just the fact that obviously it's good
to have one of the children in safe custody with police,
n ot, you know, just a very tough, tragic situation
now with one of our police officers obviously badly injured
in the hospital undergo surgery. You know, Tom Phillips obviously
killed in that same incident. I think it just highlighted
(00:40):
for me, It just holighted the fact that I felt
very strongly all along is that you know, you're dealing
with a very disturbed individual that had three children in
high powered firearms and it made an extremely difficult situation
to deal with.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah. Now the police are clearly searching in an area
where they think the kids are. Do you know how
big this area is?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
No that I know that they've got lots of resources there,
They've got the AoE, S STG. They've got every piece
equipment that they need to make sure that they locate
and get these kids safely out of the bush and
looked after.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Has the daughter told them roughly where to look?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I'm not going to say too much around what
information or what she's done, because we're trying we're not
going to talk about the kids too much. But all then.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So that they we take the cat out of it.
Have they been told roughly where to look?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They have a rough idea, they've worked out roughly where
they need to look, they've got all the resources in there,
and they've put a knife and no fly zone in
place obviously for obvious reasons. Look, I'm very, very confident
that that will that the police will find and recover
those children safely.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What makes you so confident?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I just well, number one a world class police force.
They'll take their time, they'll be careful, they'll understand that
it's a very sensitive situation, and they get a prior
to the safety of those kids, and they'll do whatever
they need to do to make sure they get them
back safely.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Is there a chance or a risk that the kids DeCamp.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, there's always a risk with kids because kids are
unpredictable the best of times, and obviously these kids have
been heavily influenced by Tom Phillips himself. But I just
know that our police will be very cautious as they
always have been in this situation, and they'll make sure
that the children's welfare is put first in forefront. And
(02:31):
but I just I'm very confident our police. I know
how deeply capability is and I'm very confident I'll recover
those children safely.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Is there a chance or a risk that somebody comes
to get the kids?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well? Having you know, I think it's pretty clear that
someone's probably been helping him, assisting him over the time
that he's been at large with these with the kids.
But the police will have control of this of the
area now, they'll have cordons up. Like I said, there's
no live zone. They've got all the police resource that
they need to be able to control that area. So
it'd be very, very highly unlikely that anyone would be
(03:07):
able to get through that cordon.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
How many people are the cops looking for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, they're looking for the remaining children obviously, so you
know that's no one else that's what's no, that's what
they're folks at the moment. They're full focus at the
moment is just making sure they recover those children safely.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Have we've got the army in there? Are we thinking
about that?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I don't know if they've got the army in there.
If that, the army've obviously got specialist capability and the
police won't use the take to use that specialist capability
if they need it in terms of equipment and things
like that. But all I know is that they've got
the specialist squads in there. They've got all the equipment
they need. They're very confident in the area that they're searching,
and they've got it caughted and contained. They're controlling it.
(03:51):
They're going to be very careful about making sure that
they get those kids back safely.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Listen, they've got the infrared on the on the eagle.
Is that any good out in the bush?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It is? Yeah, the infrared is very effective without a doubt,
and the guys and the eagle, you know, a specialist
official and using that technology. So you know, the police
will be using everything that they need to make sure
that they recover these children safely.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Do you know what the kids have been told to
do if the dad doesn't come back, Like, have they
been told to DeCamp? Will go somewhere else or sit
in place? You know?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No, No, no, we don't know. I don't know any
of that, and that neither would that be a level
of detail that I'd be briefed on. All we know,
obviously is that he's had them in there for a
long time. He's obviously, you know, got a lot of
influence over them. He's probably the only adult that they've
really had much contact with. We can see clearly the
risks around dealing with him, and the high end the
(04:45):
fact that he's got numerous firearms, and so you know,
the police will be treating it. Like I said to you,
that their priority is going to be the safety of
those kids, and I've got very high levels of confidence
of the professional deployment of our place officers in the
way they'll deal with us.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Mitch. Why did the police officer when they stopped their
car and saw Tom Phillips get out of the vehicle,
do we know yet?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
No? And I never second police officers that are actually
during an operation or when they're deployed and when they're
making decisions quickly, and you know, and in situations that
often unfolding rapidly as well. So although I know is
that we've got a police officer that is badly injured,
we are getting back both myself and the Commissioner getting
home as quickly as we can. We will be down
(05:31):
there tomorrow with him and with the family, and obviously
we'll be getting a full briefing and update in terms
of where we are in recovery of the children.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Why was his boot open? Was he trying to get
a firearm?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I'm not going to speculate on that because that is
operational and.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I mean, given what was going on, was he armed.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, again, I'm not going to speculate on that because
there will be an inquiry. There'll be two or three
internal inquiries. There will be an I b C in
Quirry obviously a police internal inquiry, M corral is inquiry,
so you know, all of that information will come out
in due course. I'm not going to speculate on that
now because that is operational. That's the guys. All I'd
say is they've done an outstanding job. You know, we've
(06:12):
we've we've got tragically, we've got one of our police
officers serious injuries. It's in the forefront of my mind
at the moment, and also of course the recovery of
the remaining children.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Okay, listen, how many times are the cop shot? Have
you been told? How many times was the police officer shot?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
No, so that that information I'm not going to make public.
All I know is that obviously he's undergoing surgery and.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Involved shot, but with just one weapon or multiple.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Look, I don't know. I don't know whether he was,
whether it was one or multiple, But you know, the
important thing is that what we do know is that
he's he's been shot, he's in a critical condition, and
he's under getting surgery. So you know, we just we
want to make sure that we've got the support around
him and his f that they need. And as colleagues,
of course, if.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
The police haven't been able to track these guys down
in four years, why do you feel confident? And I
want you to basically need you to convince me that
they're going to be able to track these kids down quickly.
What makes you so confident?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, I just back our police and we're very lucky
in our country that we've got one of the best,
most professional services in the world. I don't say that lightly.
With lots of law enforcement agencies around the world, and
we've got some of the best people and they deeply
care and take their job seriously. The professionals consumate professionals
and they'll be out there now working hard to try
and recover those children and do that in a safe way.
(07:35):
So you know, I just say that, you know, don't
keep people for rush to judgment. The one thing that
I would say, and what has made this difficult in
my mind, this situation, in my mind, very very difficult,
is that you've obviously got a disturbed father that has
got three children and high powered hunting rifles and the
(07:58):
bush and it is a very difficult situation for anyone
to deal with in terms of making sure that you
can recover those children safely. Now he is in there,
out of the picture, which means that the police have
got a really good chance and will, I have no doubt,
recover those children safely.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Mitch, thank you very much and safe travels. Back this
Mark Mitchell, police minister who's obviously over in Australia with
the Police Commissioner for the funeral of the officers over
in Australia, who have been shot in unfortunately quite similar circumstances.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
Police are running out of daylight to find the two
youngest children of Tom Phillips. His twelve year old daughter
is understood to be with police. She was with Tom
Phillips when he was confronted by an officer this morning,
shot at the constable and was shot dead in response.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is with me right now.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
How much hey afternoon?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Either any updated all on the kids?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, I mean just the fact that obviously it's good
to have one of the children in safe custody with police,
n ot, you know, just a very tough, tragic situation
now with one of our police officers obviously badly injured
in the hospital undergo surgery. You know, Tom Phillips obviously
killed in that same incident. I think it just highlighted
(00:40):
for me, It just holighted the fact that I felt
very strongly all along is that you know, you're dealing
with a very disturbed individual that had three children in
high powered firearms and it made an extremely difficult situation
to deal with.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah. Now the police are clearly searching in an area
where they think the kids are. Do you know how
big this area is?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
No that I know that they've got lots of resources there,
They've got the AoE, S STG. They've got every piece
equipment that they need to make sure that they locate
and get these kids safely out of the bush and
looked after.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Has the daughter told them roughly where to look?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I'm not going to say too much around what
information or what she's done, because we're trying we're not
going to talk about the kids too much. But all then.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So that they we take the cat out of it.
Have they been told roughly where to look?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They have a rough idea, they've worked out roughly where
they need to look, they've got all the resources in there,
and they've put a knife and no fly zone in
place obviously for obvious reasons. Look, I'm very, very confident
that that will that the police will find and recover
those children safely.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What makes you so confident?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I just well, number one a world class police force.
They'll take their time, they'll be careful, they'll understand that
it's a very sensitive situation, and they get a prior
to the safety of those kids, and they'll do whatever
they need to do to make sure they get them
back safely.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Is there a chance or a risk that the kids DeCamp.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, there's always a risk with kids because kids are
unpredictable the best of times, and obviously these kids have
been heavily influenced by Tom Phillips himself. But I just
know that our police will be very cautious as they
always have been in this situation, and they'll make sure
that the children's welfare is put first in forefront. And
(02:31):
but I just I'm very confident our police. I know
how deeply capability is and I'm very confident I'll recover
those children safely.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Is there a chance or a risk that somebody comes
to get the kids?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well? Having you know, I think it's pretty clear that
someone's probably been helping him, assisting him over the time
that he's been at large with these with the kids.
But the police will have control of this of the
area now, they'll have cordons up. Like I said, there's
no live zone. They've got all the police resource that
they need to be able to control that area. So
it'd be very, very highly unlikely that anyone would be
(03:07):
able to get through that cordon.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
How many people are the cops looking for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, they're looking for the remaining children obviously, so you
know that's no one else that's what's no, that's what
they're folks at the moment. They're full focus at the
moment is just making sure they recover those children safely.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Have we've got the army in there? Are we thinking
about that?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I don't know if they've got the army in there.
If that, the army've obviously got specialist capability and the
police won't use the take to use that specialist capability
if they need it in terms of equipment and things
like that. But all I know is that they've got
the specialist squads in there. They've got all the equipment
they need. They're very confident in the area that they're searching,
and they've got it caughted and contained. They're controlling it.
(03:51):
They're going to be very careful about making sure that
they get those kids back safely.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Listen, they've got the infrared on the on the eagle.
Is that any good out in the bush?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It is? Yeah, the infrared is very effective without a doubt,
and the guys and the eagle, you know, a specialist
official and using that technology. So you know, the police
will be using everything that they need to make sure
that they recover these children safely.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Do you know what the kids have been told to
do if the dad doesn't come back, Like, have they
been told to DeCamp? Will go somewhere else or sit
in place? You know?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
No, No, no, we don't know. I don't know any
of that, and that neither would that be a level
of detail that I'd be briefed on. All we know,
obviously is that he's had them in there for a
long time. He's obviously, you know, got a lot of
influence over them. He's probably the only adult that they've
really had much contact with. We can see clearly the
risks around dealing with him, and the high end the
(04:45):
fact that he's got numerous firearms, and so you know,
the police will be treating it. Like I said to you,
that their priority is going to be the safety of
those kids, and I've got very high levels of confidence
of the professional deployment of our place officers in the
way they'll deal with us.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Mitch. Why did the police officer when they stopped their
car and saw Tom Phillips get out of the vehicle,
do we know yet?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
No? And I never second police officers that are actually
during an operation or when they're deployed and when they're
making decisions quickly, and you know, and in situations that
often unfolding rapidly as well. So although I know is
that we've got a police officer that is badly injured,
we are getting back both myself and the Commissioner getting
home as quickly as we can. We will be down
(05:31):
there tomorrow with him and with the family, and obviously
we'll be getting a full briefing and update in terms
of where we are in recovery of the children.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Why was his boot open? Was he trying to get
a firearm?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I'm not going to speculate on that because that is
operational and.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I mean, given what was going on, was he armed.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, again, I'm not going to speculate on that because
there will be an inquiry. There'll be two or three
internal inquiries. There will be an I b C in
Quirry obviously a police internal inquiry, M corral is inquiry,
so you know, all of that information will come out
in due course. I'm not going to speculate on that
now because that is operational. That's the guys. All I'd
say is they've done an outstanding job. You know, we've
(06:12):
we've we've got tragically, we've got one of our police
officers serious injuries. It's in the forefront of my mind
at the moment, and also of course the recovery of
the remaining children.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Okay, listen, how many times are the cop shot? Have
you been told? How many times was the police officer shot?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
No, so that that information I'm not going to make public.
All I know is that obviously he's undergoing surgery and.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Involved shot, but with just one weapon or multiple.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Look, I don't know. I don't know whether he was,
whether it was one or multiple, But you know, the
important thing is that what we do know is that
he's he's been shot, he's in a critical condition, and
he's under getting surgery. So you know, we just we
want to make sure that we've got the support around
him and his f that they need. And as colleagues,
of course, if.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
The police haven't been able to track these guys down
in four years, why do you feel confident? And I
want you to basically need you to convince me that
they're going to be able to track these kids down quickly.
What makes you so confident?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, I just back our police and we're very lucky
in our country that we've got one of the best,
most professional services in the world. I don't say that lightly.
With lots of law enforcement agencies around the world, and
we've got some of the best people and they deeply
care and take their job seriously. The professionals consumate professionals
and they'll be out there now working hard to try
and recover those children and do that in a safe way.
(07:35):
So you know, I just say that, you know, don't
keep people for rush to judgment. The one thing that
I would say, and what has made this difficult in
my mind, this situation, in my mind, very very difficult,
is that you've obviously got a disturbed father that has
got three children and high powered hunting rifles and the
(07:58):
bush and it is a very difficult situation for anyone
to deal with in terms of making sure that you
can recover those children safely. Now he is in there,
out of the picture, which means that the police have
got a really good chance and will, I have no doubt,
recover those children safely.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Mitch, thank you very much and safe travels. Back this
Mark Mitchell, police minister who's obviously over in Australia with
the Police Commissioner for the funeral of the officers over
in Australia, who have been shot in unfortunately quite similar circumstances.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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