Taika Waititi has taken to Twitter to vent his frustration at coverage of his interview with TVNZ's Marae last week in which he said he wasn't "proud" of New Zealand .
Speaking to Marae from his home in LA, Waititi said he felt New Zealand had a lot to learn when it comes to addressing environmental and social issues.
"I'm not very proud of coming from a place that everyone thinks is this pure green country, whereas in reality all our lakes and waterways are poison," he said.
"We've got a lot to learn about our depression rates, our suicide rates, teen suicide rates, child poverty numbers and the housing crisis."
Waititi's comments caused a stir in New Zealand media with The AM Show host Duncan Garner labelling the Kiwi director's opinion as "treasonous".
The filmmaker, who has been recently promoted his new film Thor: Ragnarok, fired back on social media last night saying: "I can't believe I was labelled a trait."
He then added more issues to the list of problems he believes New Zealand has.
"I'm sorry NZ! I wasn't thinking and spoke in haste. I forgot to mention domestic violence, sexism, homophobia and racism."
The Human Rights Commission’s campaign Give Nothing To Racism aims to discourage people from allowing racism any leeway, either intentionally or otherwise. (Source: Other)
Waititi isn't shy about airing his social and political views having appeared in ads addressing health issues and racism in New Zealand.
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