WELLINGTON – The disappearance of a New Zealand father with his children in a forest for several years before he was discovered and shot dead by the police has prompted the government to launch a major inquiry into how officials handled the case.

The public inquiry — which is a formal, independent investigation of matters of significant importance in New Zealand — will examine "whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare” of Tom Phillips' children, Attorney General Judith Collins said Thursday.

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The announcement follows outrage in New Zealand about how a father involved in court proceedings was allowed to evade the authorities for years, while forcing his children to live in rugged conditions in remote countryside wit

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