Phil Amos

Phillip Albert Amos, QSO (4 September 1925 – 8 June 2007), was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Early life

Amos was born in Wanganui in 1925, the son of John Amos. He received his education at Otorohanga District High School, later renamed as Otorohanga College. He attended Auckland Teachers College followed by the University of Auckland. He was a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) pilot in the Pacific in World War II. From 1946 to 1963, he was a teacher.^[1]

Political career

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1963–1966	34th	Manurewa		Labour
1966–1969	35th	Manurewa		Labour
1969–1972	36th	Manurewa		Labour
1972–1975	37th	Manurewa		Labour

In 1960 he stood for Labour in the Rodney electorate, coming second. He was the Member of Parliament for Manurewa from 1963 to 1975, when he was defeated.^[2] He was the Minister of Education in the Third Labour Government from 1972 to 1975,^[3] and also served as the last Minister of Island Affairs from 1973 to 1974.^[4][5] As Minister of Education, he drove the integration of Catholic schools, and the reduction of class sizes.

Later life

In 1976 while protesting the visit of US cruiser Long Beach in his small yacht the Dolphin he was convicted of obstruction, but won on appeal with the help of then lawyer David Lange. As a friend of the Tanzanian President Nyerere, he lived in a remote part of Tanzania from 1976 to 1988. Disillusioned with Rogernomics, he joined and was president of the NewLabour Party after his return to Auckland. He was a Swahili interpreter/translator.

In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, Amos was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.^[6]

He married Jill Edwina Turner in 1949, the daughter of Ross Turner, and had two sons and one daughter with her.^[1] His second marriage was to Odilia. He died in Auckland in 2007.^[7]

Notes

1. Traue 1978, p. 42.
2. Wilson 1985, p. 180.
3. Wilson 1985, pp. 92–93.
4. Wilson 1985, p. 92.
5. New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, Vols. 382-389 (1973-1974).
6. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53697. pp. 34–35. 10 June 1994. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
7. "Obituary". The Dominion Post. 14 June 2007. p. B7.

References

• Traue, James Edward, ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

Further reading

• Directions. Series eleven, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Radio New Zealand Replay Radio, 1994

• This interview was conducted by Neville Glasgow. This interview is cassette # 69 in this series.

• Interview with Phil Amos [Auckland College of Education and Old A's oral Archives Project], Auckland, [N.Z.]: n.p., 2006

• This interview was conducted by Richard Thompson.