Watch: Stephen Colbert Commends New Zealand For Setting The Example America Should Follow

Stephen Colbert, the US show host, has renewed his love affair with New Zealand by releasing another upbeat video about life on these shores.

The leader of the popular The Late Show with Stephen Colbert lavished special praise on New Zealand’s handling of Covid-19 and the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Colbert had Ardern visit his show as a guest in the United States, before visiting New Zealand last October.

There, Ardern picked him up from the airport before taking him home for a barbecue with his family and pop singer Lorde.

Now, with the Covid-19 pandemic in the US and travel restricted, Colbert took the opportunity to walk down memory lane and release a new video of his time in New Zealand.

“Coronavirus infections in this country are at the highest level they have ever been and because of that there are still massive travel restrictions for Americans around the world,” he said.

“All these travel restrictions made me think of my last big trip last year when I traveled to Downunder and a little to the right for my special series The Newest Zealander.

“And I really wish I could be there now because, as you may have heard, they have had one of the most successful pandemic responses in the world.”

He then noted that out of a population of 5 million, New Zealand had experienced only 25 deaths and 2,000 Covid infections.

That was the same as many infections came from a White House Christmas party, he joked.

In her new video titled Back to New Zealand: A Magical Land Where Hugging Still Happens, she noted that life was almost normal again on these shores with crowds that could attend sports matches and concerts.

And while New Zealand had the advantage of being a small and remote island, much of the success in containing Covid was due to “the New Zealanders themselves.”

“According to the medical journal Lancet Public Health, the keys to New Zealand’s success have been decisive governance, effective communication and high population compliance,” he said.

“But the United States got close to zero of those three things.”

Explaining how New Zealand’s first lockdown worked, he quoted the New York Times as saying that it was “so severe that it was even prohibited to retrieve a lost cricket ball from a neighbor’s yard.”

He then went on to say that when he visited New Zealand, there were times when it was as if he was taking a step into the past.

“But I look at it now and hope that New Zealand really is our future, our normal full-contact future,” he said.

“Here’s a fun fact, they are actually 18 hours ahead of us, they are literally living in tomorrow.

“And hopefully they are also living the life that we in America could be living five or six months from now.

“A magical life of civic cooperation for the common good; let’s hope we reach them in that.”

His latest video came in what turned out to be a publicity blitz for New Zealand.

Taxpayers spent more than $ 100,000 for Colbert and his team to visit New Zealand last year.

But Tourism New Zealand expected a “significant return on investment” of $ 5 million in estimated advertising value from Colbert’s trip.

The talk show host, and Lord of the Rings fan, spent six days in the country last October filming The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which averages 3 million views per episode.

A Tourism NZ spokesperson said the idea for Colbert to visit New Zealand first came up in September 2018, prior to Ardern’s appearance on their show.