Source: Radio New Zealand
Police at the location of one of the campsites just off the Te Anga Road near Waitomo where Tom Phillips and his children had been hiding. Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
The elder sisters of the abducted Phillips children have revealed that police declined a donation to the officer injured in the fatal shootout with fugitive father Tom Phillips.
The funds had been raised via a Givealittle page set up in October 2022 as a reward for information leading to the safe return of the children.
A post on the Givealittle page said that since the children were located their whānau “have been working behind the scenes to distribute the funds raised”.
“Our whānau had hoped to make a koha to the police officer that had been injured during the events on September 8th 2025, but after discussions with New Zealand police they said they did ‘not want to create a precedent for this to happen again’ and could not accept the money for the police officer.”
The constable was shot in the face with “a high powered rifle” when Phillips’ quadbike was spiked and came to a stop, after fleeing the scene of a burglary in Piopio.
The $5000 raised would instead be donated to the organisation that supported the initial search at Kiritehere Beach.
“We will now be distributing the Givealittle funds to LandSAR, to show our whānau appreciation for the volunteer work LandSAR did during the September 2021 search and the continued help that they provide to people nationwide”.
In a statement to Mata, police said they were “touched” by the offer, but declined it in line with police’s gifts, discounts and hospitality policy.
Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said “the policy is in place to prevent any perceptions about conflicts of interest”.
In 2020, following the fatal shooting of police officer Matthew Hunt who was killed in West Auckland during a traffic stop, a Givealittle fund was set up by a fellow officer and raised $58,678 in 21 days.
Members of the public, schools and private businesses contributed to the fund that was sent to the Police Families Charitable Trust, on behalf of Matthew’s family.
Mata asked police why this Givealittle could not also have been sent to the police Families Charitable Trust, police said it would be up to the donor if they wanted to pursue making a donation through the Police Association (which is entirely separate from police).
Police were unable to confirm if the injured office was informed about the intended donation.
At the time of the shooting he was described as being critically injured in the incident and requiring multiple surgeries.
Earlier this year an Official Information Act request by Mata revealed police had contacted a film crew who were producing a documentary about the abduction for Netflix before notifying the children’s mother and the Phillips family about the shooting. Police described this as “very regrettable”.
Seven months on from the fatal shoot out, Mata also asked police what progress, if any, had been made on identifying any individuals who may have assisted Tom Phillips while he was on the run.
Police said at the time, Phillips had been receiving outside help during his years on the run before he was killed.
Police are yet to respond.
The Givealttle post thanked those who had donated and acknowledged their continued support of the whānau.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
