The organisation, founded in 2013, travels around campaigning for fiscal responsibility — government spending less and more efficiently and transparently.
The union arrived to Gore with a debt clock on a trailer, which showed real-time information on New Zealand’s debt, and stopped for a chat with locals.
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union local government campaigns manager Sam Warren said the stop was all about raising awareness over the fiscal issue.
"By getting back out on the road, we’re building pressure on the Finance Minister to ‘stop the clock’ and actually cut the wasteful spending of taxpayer money — not just talk about it," he said.
As the debt sits above $193 billion, the average household would be responsible for around $39,000 if the "collectors" suddenly knocked on a hypothetical door.
Mr Warren said this was a surprise to the people they spoke to in Gore, who questioned how it had become such a large figure.
"Locals were stunned by the size of that number, and especially the rate that it keeps going up.
"Wellington has borrowed us into oblivion.
"To service that debt costs us more than billions each year in interest repayments, which comes from your taxes," he said.
This debt and the repayments were dead money, according to Mr Warren, and were siphoning money away from infrastructure and other key parts of a thriving country.
But Gore, to its credit, made a good impression on the union and Mr Warren said he hoped they would be back soon, potentially with a reduced figure.
"The locals were absolutely good sports, despite us being the bearers of such bad news.
"We’ll certainly be back in Gore — let’s just hope we have better news on the debt level next time round," he said.
