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April 23, 2026 \u2014 7:53pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Businessman Adrian Portelli was back in the news on Thursday after opening his new venture, selling fuel for $1 a litre at a petrol station in Preston.<\/p>\n Also back in the news: questions about how the entrepreneur\u2019s LMCT+ membership-based shopping discount and giveaway business actually works, and whether it is an unlicensed lottery, as critics and a South Australian regulator assert.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Preston petrol station was not ensnarled in the kind of traffic chaos that was seen at an earlier unrelated fuel giveaway in Truganina, organised by RS Rewards on Good Friday, which was shut down by police<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the cheap fuel is only available to members of LCMT+, who pay a monthly subscription fee to access hundreds of thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of discounts, as well as cash and prize giveaways.<\/p>\n The new fuel membership will cost $99.99 a year, which gives members access to petrol at the wholesale price, Portelli told this masthead, adding that he launched the business after petrol companies declined to join his scheme.<\/p>\n The Preston petrol station venture was not making money, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not depending on this venture to turn a profit, it is a soft launch to test our [petrol station] employees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Over time, the number of petrol sites will expand. \u201cWe can\u2019t lose money; otherwise, we will run out of money. \u201d<\/p>\n LMCT+ is billed as a subscription platform that offers discounts to more than 2000 businesses. These include Ultratune, Elite Supplements, Rip Curl, home appliance shop Betta, Adore Beauty Interior Secrets and Frank & Beans Underwear. The business makes its money from subscriptions, as well as ticket sales for individual giveaways.<\/p>\n Until recently, there were three tiers of LMCT+ memberships. An entry-level membership, which goes for $19.99 a month, allows members to claim up to $50,000 in savings from affiliate businesses each year. With a premium membership ($49.99 a month), the annual savings cap increases to $150,000, and for the elite membership ($99.99 a month), it\u2019s up to $250,000. The fuel membership, which costs $99.99 annually, will be available soon.<\/p>\n Related Article Memberships also include a limited number of entries into LMCT\u2019s famed giveaways, which became popularised thanks to Portelli\u2019s appearances and purchases on The Block.<\/p>\n On Thursday on ABC Radio, during an expletive-laden interview, Portelli denied he was cashing in on the fuel crisis or that his business was a gambling operation.<\/p>\n \u201cHow is that gambling? We are using a trade promotion to promote the app,\u201d Portelli, whose wealth has been estimated at $1.6 billion, told ABC Radio Melbourne.<\/p>\n Later that day he told this masthead: \u201cWhen someone is choosing not to understand \u2026 That is the response you are going to get from me.\u201d<\/p>\n LMCT+, which stands for Licensed Motor Car Trader Plus, was founded by Portelli in 2018. The businessman became famous for buying up properties on home renovation program The Block, broadcast on Channel Nine (Nine owns this masthead), and offering them as giveaways on LMCT+. The program dubbed him \u201cLambo Guy\u201d after a fondness for Lamborghini cars.<\/p>\n Winner Brad (who requested a pseudonym as he didn\u2019t want to be identified) received a winning call from Portelli telling him he had won either a house featured on The Block or $2.5 million.<\/p>\n Related Article Brad, a business manager, was never an LMCT+ member but spent about $1200 over the previous year buying tickets for specific draws, also entitling him to shopping discounts, which he never used.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the person who won is not a member, they [members] tend to crack the shits,\u201d said Brad, who added that he had missed watching the live draw on Facebook.<\/p>\n \u201cI was going to watch it and got into a conversation with my wife about something and my phone started ringing. I then jumped online and saw my name.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t believe it. In that moment, you are in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n Portelli called personally to announce the prize but at first \u201cplayed coy\u201d at the start by telling him he hadn\u2019t won the lesser prizes before revealing he had the choice of $2.5 million or a house.<\/p>\n Brad, who met Portelli by chance after his win, said he felt the businessman was the victim of the tall poppy syndrome. \u201cYou see the genuine excitement he gets; that\u2019s what I take away from it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I am going to have a different opinion to someone who hasn\u2019t won,\u201d he added, declining to reveal which prize he accepted.<\/p>\n In South Australia, LMCT+ and Portelli are appealing against a ruling that found parent company Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd was guilty of conducting unlawful lotteries and fined it $40,000. Portelli was acquitted on personal charges and has threatened defamation action against the former South Australian gambling minister over her comments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe run a legitimate business,\u201d Portelli said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n LMCT+ is running what it dubs the \u201cthe biggest giveaway in Australian television history\u201d alongside Channel Seven and its new program My Reno Rules, after Portelli bought two homes in the Melbourne suburb of Bulleen that he intends to give away to the public on June 2.<\/p>\n The site has a live countdown to the giveaway draw, and any Australian resident over 18 can buy individual tickets to the prize draw, without subscribing. In the My Reno Rules giveaway, which promises winners the choice between one of the two houses or $2 million in cash, tickets go for as little as $10 for three entries, all the way up to $500 (1500 entries).<\/p>\n The business says it is \u201cfully licensed under Trade Promotion Lottery laws\u201d, but gambling reform advocates are critical, saying the business operates through legal loopholes.<\/p>\n Tim Costello, chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, is a critic of Portelli and the gambling regulation system.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he has driven his Lamborghini through the loophole in gambling regulation,\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n Costello said Australia operated in a \u201cSwiss cheese patchwork of regulation\u201d and national regulation was needed. He was also critical of the cheap petrol initiative.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is very clever. He will be seen by the public as the people\u2019s hero. This is why he is a billionaire.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a crackdown on \u201charmful and emerging online lottery products\u201d, but did not name any specific businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is everywhere is innovative gambling,\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have prediction markets where you can bet on the Strait of Hormuz opening or closing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many offshore companies that are beyond any regulation. The online betting market is growing at 50 per cent a year.\u201d <\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Entrepreneur](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3d0d0f7380774c6545175d6b2efcdbd9aae2f829.jpeg\")
Entrepreneur Adrian Portelli selling cheap fuel to his LMCT+ members at his petrol station in Preston today.Paul Jeffers<\/p>\n![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cb42b376aedde464121c5e4816681a6207dbf625.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Brendan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776950534_575_7206f0545cf76902abebf29940a88749ee7d37db.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/faed8835c7778028b411937d62344c7811980f06.png\")
Stephen Brook<\/a> is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 23, 2026 \u2014 7:53pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-625768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}