In this year of big elections, my next guest is in a fairly unique position: as a US citizen and NZ Permanent Resident, she has regularly voted in both countries since 2008. 

Dr April Henderson is a Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies, in Va‘aomanū Pasifika at Victoria University of Wellington. She was born in the US state of Oregon and raised on the US West Coast and in Hawai‘i. Although not herself of Pacific ancestry, she began a degree in Pacific Islands Studies at University of Hawai‘i in 1996 after spending time in Samoa and feeling a responsibility to learn more about the region she called home. 

In 2002, she was hired by her friend, the late Dr. Teresia Teaiwa of Victoria’s Pacific Studies programme, for what she expected would be a short-term position. Almost 19 years and two children later, she is still in Wellington, where she’s been keenly following the recent election results.