On Monday, Eddie Zhi returned to Environment Southland where he removed clothing in protest against the council. Credit: Screenshot.
On Monday, Eddie Zhi returned to Environment Southland where he removed clothing in protest against the council. Credit: Screenshot.
On Monday, Zhi returned to Environment Southland where he removed clothing in protest against the council. Credit: Screenshot.

The owner of an embattled slinkskin factory has returned to the council, which forced him to stop operating, and removed clothing in protest.

NZAgri Development Ltd director Eddie Zhi visited Environment Southland on Monday, where he sat over a vehicle entrance and delivered an expletive-laden plea to the council.

With police looking on, Mr Zhi removed an Australian flag from his back alongside his suit, shirt and tie.

“I’m going to beg you, OK? If you don’t help us, we are f…ed. We are really literally f…ed by you guys. I am so upset," he said.

The Monday protest followed a Friday effort which led to a letter from the council's lawyer warning of an intention to trespass Mr Zhi.

But Mr Zhi was undeterred, returning on Monday for a protest he later described as “fantastic”.

“I think the psychological shock to everybody is amazing. People think that I am just a pussycat," he told Local Democracy Reporting on Tuesday.

“And I have shown them, OK, we do not need to be violent —  we just need to show how weak, how vulnerable, we are.”

Slink skin operator Eddie Zhi took dead animals to Invercargill councils on Friday in protest. Credit: Eddie Zhi/Supplied.

The protests follow an Environment Southland announcement last week it had been granted interim enforcement orders against Mr Zhi and his company NZAgri Development Ltd.

Requirements from those orders included the cessation of processing and disposal of all carcasses at the Tuturau plant, south of Gore.

Mr Zhi and his company were already facing seven charges from the regional council, including discharge of blood, leachate or contaminants to land where they could have entered water.

The Southland District Council had  also placed charges against Mr Zhi and his company, plus interim enforcement orders, the regional council said.

On Tuesday, Mr Zhi said his demand was simple: not to have jobs taken away. He said he had not been trespassed by Environment Southland.

“I’m not fighting for myself; I’m fighting for my workers. I have plenty of money. I don’t need this s..t.”

Mr Zhi has been informing others of his movements through large group emails which include several district council addresses, one Environment Southland address, members of Parliament, lawyers and media.

NZAgri Development Ltd was registered in July 2024, and lists Mr Zhi as its sole director.

The business processes dead calves and lambs for their skin.

Environment Southland was approached but did not wish to comment further.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.