Source / Taxpayers’ Union (Twitter)
'Road signs' protesting tax and ratepayer money spent on Rotorua's new Te Ahi Tupua sculpture are greeting summer travellers to the city.
One of the signs which says "Monument to Waste Ahead" was installed at the approach to what is thought to be the world's largest 3D printed sculpture by the Taxpayers’ Union and a Rotorua ratepayers group on Sunday.
Source / Taxpayers’ Union (Twitter)
Taxpayers' Union executive director Jordan Williams told Stuff they were highlighting the statue as a "great example of government waste".
"We've got this sign warning passing motorists that there is a monument to government waste that's three-quarters-of-a-million and counting."
In Stuff's video interview, Williams said reliable sources within Rotorua Lakes Council say the final cost will be "more than a million bucks".
"That million bucks could have gone on roads, not a 3D sculpture of ironically flames because it's our money in the bottom."
The artist who originally designed the sculpture is Stacy Gordine from Te Puia New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.
The sculpture was set in place at the southern gateway to Rotorua in September.