Adrian Portelli has used the launch of his latest business venture to deliver a blunt message to jobseekers: if you’re a “deadbeat” or “on drugs”, don’t bother applying.
The billionaire entrepreneur is expanding his Australian empire with a new members-only petrol station in Adelaide – only weeks after declaring Australia was “finished” as he revealed he had moved his family to Dubai.
In an Instagram story posted on Monday, Portelli announced his first Adelaide-based LMCT+ petrol station was set to open at 1112 South Rd, on the corner of South and Daws roads at Edwardstown.
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The site had already been flagged as opening by the end of September and will be the second members-only petrol station of its kind in Australia.
With fuel prices again climbing, the new site is likely to draw strong interest from Adelaide motorists hunting cheaper petrol.
But it was Portelli’s hiring pitch that was most striking.
Adrian Portelli is pressing ahead with a new Australian business venture just weeks after declaring Australia “finished”. Source: Instagram
“The SA petrol station is about to open and we need staff. So if you do want to work for LMCT+, if you are from Adelaide, if you do have experience working in a petrol station or retail for that matter, apply here now,” he said.
“We are looking to hire a highly motivated and ambitious team. If you’re a deadbeat and you’re on drugs, I don’t want you. That’s mean…and I’m sure someone else will take you but I’m looking for an elite team to give the best possible customer experience.”
Portelli is said to launch his second petrol station on the corner of 1112 South Rd and Daws Rd, Edwardstown. Source: Instagram
The blunt spray comes less than two weeks after Portelli triggered outrage by declaring Australia was “genuinely finished under its current control and leadership” as he confirmed he had relocated his family to Dubai.
At the time, the high-profile businessman praised the emirate’s tax-free status and insisted he had not “fled” Australia, while pushing back on suggestions the move was linked to new gambling reforms that could hit his LMCT+ empire.
Adrian Portelli at his LMCT+ petrol station in Preston, VIC, where he is selling cheap fuel. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw
“Australia is genuinely finished under its current control and leadership in the form of the government and media. It’s a big brainwashing circus,” he wrote.
“I’ve been planning this move for three years and lodged my plans with the ATO the entire time.
“My family and I were initially meant to move to Italy, which was going to be the base for my overseas business. However, at the last minute, we changed our plans and chose Dubai.”
In a statement posted to Instagram, Portelli said he was not turning his back on Australia.
But in a swift backflip, Portelli then insisted he could not leave Australia for good.
“That’s virtually impossible,” he said.
“I cannot leave that country for good because I’ve got so many ties to it.”
He said those ties included family, mates, property, cars, other assets and his businesses.
“I employ a lot of people there,” he said.
Portelli also rejected any suggestion he had turned his back on the nation.
“No, I do not hate the country,” he said.
“Growing up, I was always brought up to believe that Australia was the best country in the world and it was.”