'Use my taxes': Portelli won't foot police bill if his cheap fuel sparks chaos
Billionaire Adrian Portelli says the government should foot the police bill if chaos erupts at his brand new service station in Melbourne, which is offering unleaded fuel for $1 a litre to his company's members today.
Portelli cut the ribbon at the Preston LMCT+ petrol station this morning, where a queue of around 20 cars had grown by 7am.
The discount only applies to members of Portelli's rewards program.
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Portelli said the state can use the $100 million he says he's paid in taxes to pay for police if they need to be called to the service station. Nine
"If you're a member of LMCT+ you can come here, 99 cents, and we've got wholesale for diesel and 98," Portelli said.
Police liaised with the billionaire ahead of the event launch, likely in a bid to avoid chaotic scenes from a few weeks ago, where a different fuel giveaway stunt in Melbourne's west had to be shut down by police.
Police agreed to monitor the situation and respond to any issues that may arise, while Portelli organised private traffic management, police said.
But the 37-year-old businessman appeared vexed at media questions about whether he should pay if police were called to the Plenty Road petrol station.
"I've paid over $100 million in taxes to this country, so why don't you use my taxes to good work instead of wasting it on absolute rubbish," he said in a story posted to Instagram.
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LMCT+ members were offered $1 a litre unleaded, as well as diesel and 98 at wholesale prices. Nine
"Money going missing, $12 million on machete bins and you're worried about a police bill because I'm trying to help out the people and give them cheap fuel?
"Mate the priorities here in Australia are f---ing cooked and we need someone proper to run it."
Speaking to 9News this morning, Portelli said he hoped restricting the offer to members would help control crowds.
"I'm not looking for floods of people," he told 9News.
Cars queue for the cheap tank of fuel. Today
Police hope to avoid chaotic scenes at another discounted fuel stunt in Truganina earlier this month. Nine
"It's just a soft launch, so the less people the better, to be honest.
"We've spoken to police, we've done our traffic management, we've done our due diligence."
The event seems to have run smoothly so far, with dedicated members and fans singing the praises of Portelli's offer, which he called "a bit of marketing" and
"a bit of giving back to the community".
"I've been paying $2.60 so to see 99.9 [cents], like honestly it's a big difference," one woman told 9News at the bowser.
"Amazing, I think Adrian for Premier, 100 per cent," another man said.
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A queue of around 20 cars was alreayd waiting at the Preston service station by 7am this morning. Nine
But police are looking into a separate incident at the Preston location after vision circulated of hoon activity outside the petrol station last night.
Police were called to the scene around 9pm, but the car in question had already left, they said.
"Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident," a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
The Preston servo is Portelli's first, but he has revealed plans to open 50 more service stations around the country.
"I've managed to lock down a fair bit of fuel, so we're going to hand it out to our members," he said.
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Police are investigating an alleged hoon incident outside the petrol station last night. Nine
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