Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

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 in the bush with their Dad.  I argued that no matter how used to pig hunting or going bush with your Dad you are, being taken from your family against your will and without your Mum or anyone else’s knowledge was akin to kidnapping. That there should be more alarm around finding them, securing their safety, making sure they were well, and that was before we even got to the fact that these kids should be in school not slee