I have been slow to write on the tragic end of the ‘Rambo-Dad Saga’… Tom Phillips, Hide and seek world champion… The Father who Took his 3 children into the New Zealand Bush and alluded pole for 4 years.
There was an Eclipse the very hour he was shot and Killed.
An Evil sign in the heavens.
Early hours of the morning. 8 September 2025. Piopoi Waikato.
He also shot and badly injured an Officer.
All this transpiring in front of his oldest daughter who was with him at the end.
Deeply Traumatising.
Watch/Read : NZ Herald Tom Phillips dead: Fugitive Marokopa dad shoots policeman; children found safe
For 4 years many people in New Zealand have been ‘Wowed’ by the exploits of this renegade Father evading Police capture and surviving in the New Zealand Bush with his 3 young children.
Tom Loved his kids, of this there can be no doubt.
Everyone is gutted by how the end unfolded.
What drove Tom to such extreme lengths?
Like many New Zealanders I have been captivated by this Epic Kiwi drama which played out not far from where I live.
People are divided in their estimation of Tom Philips vs the Police.
Of Course there are plenty of Sheeple who automatically embrace the official Narrative in which The NZ Police are the heroes, and Tom… the Villain.
Yet still there is a sizable minority of New Zealanders who see the NZ Police (and legal systems) as the Villains, and Tom as a victim of the system… and a renegade hero.
Not taking sides yet with definite empathy for Tom, I want to enunciate why I think many New Zealanders see Tom as an almost legendary character.
He may be dead, yet his story will live on in Kiwi Folklore.
Watch this Youtube video.
My commentary.
The video above claims to analyze the Tom Phillips Saga.
It has a lot of details correct, and that is the main reason I’m including it in this post yet was unnecessarily derogatory of Tom Phillips appearance, and ultimately failed to provide any explanation as to why Tom Philips acted in the way he did.
Let me now articulate what many speculate to be close to what Tom might have been thinking… so here goes.
Tom and Cat had separated as mentioned in the video yet it missed the key fundamental reason Tom took his kids into the bush which dirives from the breakdown of his relationship with their mother.
Ie This was fundamentally a custody Battle.
What transpired finds it’s root cause in that Tom sought to keep his children from being placed with their (alleged) Drug addicted Gang related mother… ie for their safety.
Tom was a loving Father motivated by his instincts to protect his kids.
This is what The general public believed and why many of them supported Tom.
We all know things went terribly wrong, yet originally he was not some sort of werdo-radical. Just a caring Father who felt the system was against him and the best interests of the Children. Obviously he felt the Police were unjust. And the truth is New Zealand has a poor record of Fathers rights.
Many New Zealanders know this and that is why they empathized with Tom.
He’s a guy who lost faith in the system.
A system that will not take any cognizance of it’s own failings.
Many despairing Men die because of it. One Father (Sid Hanzlik) set himself on fire on Parliament grounds in protest of his perceived injustice by the NZ Family Court… yet nothing changed.
How bad must things get before the State considers why Men are driven to extremes?
The system is broke. It habitually demonizes Men.
In custody battles NZ judges habitually favor the Mother.
This is ideological prejudice against Fathers.
Most Men submit… Tom Didn’t.
Read: Man set himself on fire at Parliament – police
And: Coroner reports on Zdenek Hanzlik who set himself on fire at Parliament
The NZ Police were humiliated by Tom’s 4 Year success at alluding Capture and had put a $80 000.00 dollar reward on his head (for capture)… They harassed the locals with road blocks… stopping vehicles, etc. Asking if they had seen Tom.
Rumor’s were circulating that the Police would shoot him on sight… all things that might explain why Desperado Tom Philips
died with his Boots on… Guns blazing.
It was a truly Sad ending, and many wonder if it really had to go down that way. Many people do not trust the Police’s version of events… I wonder why?
We Pray for Tom’s Children, and the recovery of the injured cop.
How much of what I have said is factual is open to debate, yet I believe I have encapsulated the essential perceptions about this case from the general public who have carried some sympathy for Tom Philips.
How much more information, and how credible that might be may change peoples opinions one way or another… if indeed The NZ Public get any kind of transparent investigation into the Police handling of this case.
One thing is certain… do not suffer any sort of Mental breakdown in this country… you may get shot dead… as a matter of Standard Police operational procedures..
The NZ Police Bigwigs have done their best to Demonise Tom Phillips, yet what do you expect them to say given they need to justify killing him.????
What we hear from the Police in such circumstances is not a candid and forthright account of how things unfolded… but a carefully constructed narrative… omitting anything that might weaken their own position… so what we are fed is more *A Legal defense*… than the plain truth.
Will we… the public ever hear the Full unfiltered story?
Highly unlikely!
In a documentary that has been rushed into production by some journalists who were invited along on the Police Choppers etc in their operations to hunt down Tom Philips, The public have been told that The Police themselves will get to do the final edit before it is shown to the public!
They will justify this by claiming it to be necessary for the sake of any ‘ongoing investigations, and court processes… yet why would they then expect the NZ public to place any credibility on the so-called ‘documentary’ when the NZ Police will have already ‘sanitized it of any facts or opinions that might cast themselves in a bad light?
One thing is certain… Dead men tell no tales.
And: RNZ Tom Phillips’ family ‘disturbed’ documentary is being made
That (allegedly) Tom involved his Daughter in some of his Criminal activities to gain recourses for his ongoing escapade… that was callous.
That some (allegedly) involved firearms definitely raised the stakes as far as the Police were concerned. That is completely understandable.
Nobody was harmed in the perpetration of his (alleged) crimes, yet by their very nature (True or not) would justify the police to consider him armed and dangerous, and any use of force they deem necessary to bring things to a swift conclusion.
I fear Tom had resolved… Give me Liberty… or Death. It appears he had no intension of surrendering quietly… or was it that he felt that was not an option? That he was to be executed on sight?
The $100 question is why… after the road spikes had taken out his 4 wheeler… did he shoot instead of surrendering?
It is a terrible thing that a Police officer was shot, and badly injured.
This alone causes many New Zealanders to despise Tom Philips.
They buy into the Official narrative and will have no Truck with arguments that try to justify or excuse Tom’s actions.
And they will think less of me for daring to suggest systemic injustice played a large part in that fateful night.
Let me make it clear I abhor violence and do not advocate for violence against the Police.
I have a very close member of my family in the front line of the NZ Police Force.
Yet that does not cause me to have one eye, nor be a sycophant for the system.
I have more intelligence than that.
And Thankfully we still live in a free society where we the people are allowed to question the actions of Our Police and government.
I’m exercising this right.
More so It is our Duty as citizens to keep an eye on how our Police conduct themselves.
That the Police, and sheeple may consider my doing so… My questioning whether Philips needed to die… as some sort of character fault on my part speaks volumes about how Anti-freedom… Pro-Blind faith in Authority many people are.
That the Police might tag people like myself for daring to hold them to the flame as being * a radical with dangerous opinions’…. what sort of society is such Police attitudes pointing towards???
The price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance.
We *must* always watch what the Powers that be are doing in our name.
RIP Tom Phillips.
May The Grace of the Lord be with your children.
And lets hope that the NZ Justice system and Family courts wake up to their grievous injustices against Fathers.
New Zealanders need to realise the Death toll on Dads… and demand reform.
The ideology that paints Men as the abusers and woman as the victims is skewed in the extreme.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
Postscript:
Read The story behind the man who took his life on parliament grounds
‘…So the scraggly-haired father took the bus to Wellington with his placards. He stood in front of the courts – the symbols of his perceived injustice – as he had on several previous Christmases. “My vote No! to family court lawyers racket,” one set of red and black lettering read. “In Iran you stone mothers in New Zealand fathers,” another placard said…’
‘…on Thursday, September 21. About 3.50pm, he was seen to set himself alight outside parliament. Shocked onlookers rushed to the Backbencher Pub across the road for a fire extinguisher. It was too late. He died the next day in Wellington Hospital. He was 60…”
More from Tim…
Heart Ripped out. This ones for all the Dying Dads … and the Survivors.