Watch: 'I'm not very proud' – Taika Waititi speaks his mind on the environmental, poverty and housing issues hurting Kiwis

October 17, 2017

Kiwi director Taika Waititi is not one to be afraid of airing his political opinions and didn't hold back during an interview filmed in the lead up to the release of his film Thor: Ragnarok.

Speaking to TVNZ's Marae from his home in LA, Waititi said he feels New Zealand has 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."

To watch the full clip with Taika Waititi, go to the Marae's OnDemand page here

Waititi also weighed in on foreign ownership saying, "we just make it so readily available to sell land - for foreigners to buy land."

He says the first thing New Zealand needs to work on is social issues, not making money.

Waititi walked the red carpet in Sydney last night, amused by how many Kiwi references he's been able to crowbar in.

The ever hilarious Kiwi director Taika Waititi spoke to 1 NEWS Australia reporter Kim Downs at the red carpet of his movie Thor.

"To me they just seem like, 'Oh, that's what you should fix' before you think about things like money," he said.

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