Green Party co-leader James Shaw has called claims by a Fox News commentator in the US that New Zealand was running "quarantine camps" for those with coronavirus "complete nonsense".
Laura Ingraham was hosting academic Victor Davis Hanson from conservative think tank the Hoover Institution when the two suggested the New Zealand Government's quarantine and managed isolation rules were "quarantine camps" and the country was throwing away "personal freedom".
"They have a nation of five million people," Hanson told Ingraham.
"They’ve only lost, tragically, but they lost 25 people. That’s an astoundingly low number to throw away personal freedom."
Before Hanson appeared, Ingraham said New Zealand was "throwing people into quarantine camps".
She then played a Facebook live video from Jacinda Ardern, talking about managed isolation and quarantine.
However, Ardern was actually talking about those returning to New Zealand and what would happen if they refused a Covid-19 test.
"If someone refuses in our facilities to be tested, they have to keep staying," Ardern said.
"No leaving the camp until you're negative," Ingraham said, appearing to mock Ardern's accent.
Shaw was asked about the comments after emerging from another day of negotiations with the Labour Party, as the Greens jostle for a role in the next government, despite Labour holding a majority.
"Complete nonsense," he said.
"That's sort of being fanned up by Fox News which doesn't really warrant the phrase 'news outlet'."
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