 I've always been interested in social justice. I grew up in contexts where questions about justice for Māori were very much part of the dinner table and social discussion because of the work of my whānau and people who I surrounded by. When I say my research is on Indigenous peoples under international law, I'm looking at questions like what does self-determination mean for Indigenous peoples, what sort of rights to land, territories and resources should Indigenous peoples have. In February 2016 I was appointed along with Professor James Anaya as advisers to the President of the General Assembly with respect to Indigenous peoples participation at the UN. Greetings to all Indigenous peoples organisations, states, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your support as far in this process. It's very unusual to have advisers from outside of the state framework, so it was very unique to appoint two Indigenous advisers. I did a presentation to the General Assembly to launch this particular negotiation phase that we're into now, sitting in a room in the video conference centre up at the University of Auckland. It's a really dynamic process when you've literally got hundreds of states participating. To try and negotiate a resolution out of that can be quite tricky, and many states come from very different perspectives and trying to find some, I guess, ultimately compromise within that will be tricky and we will be advising the President of the General Assembly throughout that process. I think that the lack of recognition of Indigenous peoples and also the historical injustices facing Indigenous peoples animate my passion. I think it's what gets me up, I guess, in the morning that something needs to be done and I think that there are really creative and wonderful ways in a contemporary world in which we can address these issues. My hope is certainly that Indigenous peoples' claims to rights will be better supported by the work that I and others do legally. And I think that was born out in the declaration negotiations that you had. Indigenous scholars supporting the work of Indigenous advocates, and it meant that they had the legal power to refute some of the arguments made by states and to convince states that it was important to recognise Indigenous peoples' rights. I've always combined my research with advocacy for Indigenous peoples. I could think of nothing better than waking up in the morning, turning my mind to these questions. I love the trying to work it out bit and I guess that's why I'm an academic.