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Netflix documentary producer Dame Julie Christie was given a heads-up by police that Tom Phillips had been shot, police documents reveal. The Police Commissioner wanted to terminate a Netflix documentary crew’s inside access to police in the weeks following Tom Phillips’ shooting, new documents reveal. And he now says the Netflix crew should never have been given access to the shooting scene. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told the Herald in a statement today: “It has become apparent this documentary was not always handled in line with the usual protocols and processes that apply to documentaries police take part in. “I would not have allowed access to what was an active crime scene and had not been aware that was happening ahead of time. Had I known it was to happen, I would have stopped that.” The Phillips children were found in early September after being missing with their father for four years. The saga ended when Tom Phillips was shot and killed in an early morning shootout with police on September 8. Almost 300 pages of emails, text messages and other documents have today been released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, highlighting how the documentary came to life, and the producers’ various interactions with police since 2024. Internal police emails have also been released. “My view is that access should now end given [Operation] Curly is closed,” Commissioner Richard Chambers told several senior staff in an internal email on September 24. In the days after that, documentary maker Dame Julie Christie wrote to Chambers, encouraging him to consider “a lengthy ‘pause’ over any other action”. One of Tom Phillips' campsites in the Waikato bush. The documents confirm earlier reports that the Netflix crew was given an early heads-up that Phillips had been shot. Police director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen texted Christie at 6.14am on September 8: “I’m on a flight to Hamilton now”. “I wanted to give u a heads up.. T [redacted] were involved in another burglary this morning. T has been shot - we have [redacted] We will do media but every man n dog there.” The link to Phillips was not officially announced to the public for several hours. At 7.04am, police issued a media statement saying they were responding to a serious incident in western Waikato but gave no specific details, saying they would be provided “as they become available”. At 9am, police reported one man had died, and a police officer had been injured in an overnight incident. Phillips’ link to the incident was officially announced at an 11am press conference. In the days following, it became clear that Christie’s production crew - later revealed to be working on a documentary destined for Netflix - were being granted special access beyond police cordons. Police came in for criticism from several quarters, including competing media organisations. Chambers’ early support Chambers supported the making of the documentary, having met Christie at police national headquarters in late 2024, and referring it to his media and communications team. The documents show police started easing back on access in the weeks following Phillips’ death. Dame Julie Christie is producing a Tom Phillips documentary. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii On September 15 - a week after Phillips was shot - Christie texted Clausen to ask if one of her crew “might be able to join the team looking for the other camp?” Clausen responded: “I think we need to leave some air space for now. People v sensitive. I’m talking to them tomorrow, hopefully.” Christie responds: “I respect that, of course. I hope it is realised that all of our shooting shows ... how hard the police team always worked to recover those children. It would be disappointing not to be able to complete that story in the best possible way.” She said she was “grateful for everything so far” and would keep in touch. On September 24, Chambers’ chief media and communications advisor Claire Trevett em...
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