New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has responded to claims by expat director Taika Waititi that his home country is “racist as fuck”.

Comments by the director of Thor Ragnarok, Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople caused a stir in New Zealand this week, with some accusing Waititi of going too far.

“I think New Zealand is the best place on the planet, but it’s a racist place,” Waititi said in a wide-ranging interview with Dazed and Confused magazine.

“People just flat-out refuse to pronounce Maori names properly. There’s still profiling when it comes to Polynesians. It’s not even a colour thing – like, ‘Oh, there’s a black person.’ It’s, ‘If you’re Poly then you’re getting profiled.’”

On Tuesday, Ardern was asked if she agreed with Waititi’s assertion that New Zealand was a racist society, and that Polynesian and Maori people continue to be negatively stereotyped.

Waititi was named New Zealander of the Year in 2017 and has also featured in campaign videos for the Human Rights Commission calling for an end to racism.

“I don’t know where F sits on the quantum,” said Ardern when asked how serious Waititi’s comments were by The AM Show.

“I think probably you’d be hard-pressed to find a country that didn’t have racism in it, New Zealand is one of them.”

“Is there racism in New Zealand? Undeniably. Is there racism in most countries? Undeniably. Can we do better? Yes.”

Race relations commissioner Dame Susan Devoy applauded Waititi’s direct approach, and said the director painted an accurate portrait of the state of racial affairs in his country.

“When someone like Taika Waititi comes out and speaks the truth and talks from experience, we as New Zealanders need to sit up and listen,” Devoy told TVNZ’s Breakfast show.

“Good on Taika for having the courage to speak up ... we need to actually understand that racism is an issue in New Zealand – and what are we going to do about it?

“I’ve seen criticism of him speaking out against things that aren’t favourable in New Zealand – I think he’s walking the talk – he’s showing humanity in action and highlighting an issue that he’s personally experienced and asking New Zealand to do better.

Reaction to Waititi’s interview was mixed in New Zealand, with some people applauding the director’s frank comments, while others said he was actively “sabotaging” the country’s international reputation and overstating how bad the issue was.

Hey Taika Waititi your lack of vocabulary - potty mouth - is boring. New Zealand is inanimate how can it possibly be racist? Or are you suggesting all 4.7m individuals who call NZ their home are racists? https://t.co/I8ZMoklGyw — Ian Cummings (@Iancummings19) April 9, 2018

watching new zealand say “new zealand is great it’s not racist” are choosing to ignore taika waititi and ruban nielson’s personal experiences. it’s the equivalent of them closing their eyes and blocking their ears and chanting “no no no no no” 🙈🙉🙊 — David Farrier (@davidfarrier) April 9, 2018

“This guy ... he’s gone too far, it’s too extreme,” said broadcaster Duncan Garner.

“Come home and reintroduce yourself to your country. It’s a great little country that’s not without its challenges but we’re not as racist as ‘F’.

“Many countries use us as the model for how to deal with indigenous issues, actually. And it hasn’t held Taika back, has it?” he said.

Last year, Waititi starred in a campaign for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and used his Kiwi irony to get the point across.

According to the Human Rights Commission, reported instances of racism are on the rise in New Zealand, with a third of all complaints to the commission regarding racist discrimination. It is thought the vast majority of racial abuse still goes unreported.