📰 The Irony of the “Do Not Do Business” Warning: When a Builder Walks Away a Millionaire
The Channel 9 A Current Affair segment featuring a Balinese builder known as “Made” has raised far more questions than it answered.
In the broadcast, Made is shown warning viewers:
“Do not do business with Lux Property and Jamie McIntyre, he will send you bankrupt.”
It is a powerful soundbite.
But according to Lux Property, it is also deeply misleading.
🔄 Lux: “The Story Was Turned Upside Down”
Lux founder Jamie McIntyre says that if the full background had been presented, the warning would have sounded very different.
In McIntyre’s words, what Made should have said was:
“Do business with Jamie McIntyre and Lux Property, and you might become an instant millionaire.”
The remark is sarcastic — but it reflects Lux’s core allegation.
According to Lux, the builder who portrayed himself as a victim is, in fact, the subject of legal action for substantial sums already paid in advance.
💰 What Lux Alleges Actually Happened
According to Lux Property:
• Made was terminated from three projects in 2020 following alleged issues with:
• Performance
• Progress reporting
• Delivery standards
• Prior to termination, Lux states it had already paid approximately AUD $1.2 million in advance for work that was:
• Incomplete, or
• Never delivered
• Lux alleges that instead of completing the projects or refunding the money, Made walked away
• Lux further claims there are serious concerns that hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for:
• Subcontractors
• Labourers
were allegedly not passed on, leaving workers unpaid
Lux says these matters are being pursued through legal channels.
📺 What Viewers Were Not Told
None of this context appeared in the A Current Affair segment.
Instead, viewers were presented with a simplified narrative:
A “poor builder” allegedly owed AUD $900,000 by Lux Property.
Yet:
❌ No documentary proof of such a debt was shown
❌ No invoices were produced
❌ No contracts were displayed
❌ No explanation was given as to how a small Balinese builder could:
• Finance nearly AUD $1 million in unsecured construction credit
❌ No mention was made of Lux’s claim that:
• The builder had already received more than he delivered
From Lux’s perspective, the story was reversed.
⚖️ The Irony at the Centre of the Warning
If Lux’s account is correct, the irony is stark:
• A builder allegedly receives over AUD $1.2 million in advance payments
• Allegedly fails to complete the contracted work
• Allegedly leaves subcontractors and labourers unpaid
• Then appears on national television warning others not to do business with the company that funded him
In that light, McIntyre’s response carries pointed sarcasm:
“Do business with Jamie McIntyre and Lux Property, and you too might become an instant millionaire —
if you take the money, don’t finish the work, and then try to rewrite history on television.”
🧠 Narrative Power and What Was Left Out
What troubles Lux most is not just the accusation, but the platform and the omissions.
Lux says A Current Affair did not inform viewers that:
• The builder is allegedly being sued
• The payments were allegedly made in advance
• The alleged debt may in fact run in the opposite direction
• Workers may have been left unpaid
Without this context, Lux argues, the segment risks becoming not investigative journalism, but a one-sided narrative serving a broader commercial dispute.
🧾 A Different Moral
The moral of the story may be very different from the one presented on television.
Not:
❌ “Don’t do business with Lux.”
But rather:
⚠️ Be careful who controls the narrative
⚠️ Be careful what is left out
⚠️ Be cautious when someone who may already have walked away with over a million dollars presents themselves as the victim
🏁 Conclusion
Lux Property says it welcomes scrutiny — but only if it is:
✔️ Balanced
✔️ Evidence-based
✔️ Complete
In any legal system, accusations are not proof.
And in honest journalism, omission can be just as powerful as misstatement.
