A lawyer says the Government has displayed “double standards” over its inquiry into the disappearance of Tom Phillips’ children, given the failure to do the same for children living at Gloriavale.
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced a public inquiry will be held to into the Phillips children which would examine whether Government agencies took “all practicable steps” to protect their welfare and safety.
The Phillips children were rarely seen while on the run in Waikato with their fugitive father for four years, and Collins said the decision to initiate an inquiry reflected the “significant” public interest in the case.
“It is important that we establish the facts and determine whether agencies could take steps to prevent or resolve similar situations more quickly and effectively in the future,” she said.
Dennis Gates, who was part of the legal team that represented former Gloriavale residents at the Employment Court, said the same level of investigative rigour hasn’t been afforded to the hundreds of children who live at the commune on the West Coast of the South Island.
“I am struggling to understand why three young children left in their father’s care for four years is different to, or more important than, 300 children who have been left in the care of known sexual offenders over a period of 50 years,” he said.
Gloriavale’s founder, Hopeful Christian, who died in 2018, was a convicted sex offender. More recently, Howard Temple resigned as the community’s Overseeing Shepherd after also being convicted of sexual offending against girls and women.
Different government agencies have conducted various investigations into Gloriavale over the past decade, but there has not been a wide-ranging government-backed inquiry to see if agencies have done all they could to protect young people living there.
The terms of reference for the inquiry into the Phillips children describe the case as “exceptional, if not unique” and as a “matter of public importance”.
Gates backs the move to examine how agencies responded over the four years the Phillips children were missing but told the Herald he believed the Government had failed to do the same when it came to Gloriavale, despite documented cases of abuse and neglect over many years.
“It’s a double standard because the kids in Gloriavale have been missing in public view for 50 years. They have been out of sight and out of mind,” he told the Herald.
Collins is part of a 10-minister group tasked with implementing a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care that states the Government should take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of children and adults at Gloriavale.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston is the lead minister on the Government’s response to Gloriavale.
She told the Herald that Oranga Tamariki, police and health authorities are visiting Gloriavale “multiple times a week”.
But Gates doesn’t think that cuts it.
“Concerns regarding sexual abuse at Gloriavale have been raised with authorities many times, as well as slavery concerns, and yet the West Coast community continues to operate,” he said.
Gates said he met with one of Upston’s staff last year and gave them “detailed information” about the commune.
“She [Upston] is well aware of what is going on inside Gloriavale.”
Upston’s office confirmed the meeting between a member of Upston’s electorate office in May last year and told the Herald the insights Gates shared were important.
“I’ve made it very clear that the welfare of children in Gloriavale is the number one priority for our work there,” Upston told the Herald.
She said young people at Gloriavale must be kept safe and be allowed to thrive and she is planning to personally visit the community “as early as possible” next year.
The Herald revealed last month that police and Oranga Tamariki (OT) quietly launched a mass allegation investigation into the suffocation of babies and children at the end of last year.
More than 100 interviews were conducted with parents and children, and police issued two formal warnings.
Police and OT also spoke to Gloriavale’s adults and gave them “suggested parenting techniques” for dealing with childhood behaviours and scenarios.
The investigation was triggered by evidence heard at the Royal Commission.
The mass allegation investigation into suffocation tactics was preceded by another investigation into the same issue by police and OT in 2017.
During that earlier inquiry, authorities offered the leaders parenting tips, but the investigation concluded without any formal warnings or any other type of enforcement action.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named Reporter of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.