He had a passion for human rights and was strongly opposed to racism, in particular the apartheid system in South Africa and Rhodesia.

[1] As a teacher Amos aspired to be his own boss and chose to work at a sole-charge school to avoid taking orders from a principal.

[1] Allowing private schools to voluntarily integrate with the state system without sacrificing their particular character was seen as outside the traditional Labour Party policy sphere.

[4] Amos found Kirk's leadership and vision inspiring and thought his death in 1974 to be a crushing blow to Labour.

[1] In July 1976, less than a year after he had lost his parliamentary seat and cabinet post, he protested the visit of the 20,000 tonne American cruiser USS Long Beach in his small yacht the Dolphin.

The cruiser was forced to stop mid-stream to allow grappling hooks to be thrown to pull the Dolphin clear.

Amos' protest instantly became a headline-grabbing piece of political drama from which he took a lot of personal satisfaction at bringing public attention to the anti-nuclear issue.

Lange would later become Prime Minister and passed a law banning the visit by nuclear propelled or armed ships with Amos' support.

[1] As a friend of the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, he accepted an invitation to be an education advisor as well as a Swahili interpreter/translator, assisting the local police, courts and other government agencies.

He made a living by operating a flour mill he built to serve local farmers and also grew bananas, avocados, pineapple, corn, and vegetables on the one hectare plot they owned.

A parliamentary colleague Richard Mayson who travelled to Tanzania to visit him, described Amos as living the life of a 20th-century version of David Livingstone.

"[12] At the 1992 local-body elections he put himself forward as a candidate for the Mount Albert ward of the Auckland City Council.