Family First Party National Director Lyle Shelton has criticised the national rollout of the “Rainbow Ready” tourism accreditation scheme, warning it hands one group of travellers special, taxpayer-linked treatment while doing nothing for the millions of Australian families who simply want a holiday free of queer ideology.
The program, developed by the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and now administered nationally by the Australian Tourism Industry Council, is being rolled out across the country as part of a Government-supported enhancement to the Quality Tourism Framework. It is free to businesses that already hold Sustainable Tourism Accreditation — meaning its development and delivery ride on the back of publicly supported infrastructure.
“Let’s call this what it is: a scheme that tells businesses to learn to ‘speak gay’ so one category of guest feels catered to, dressed up as basic hospitality,” Mr Shelton said
“Compare that to the Accessible Tourism program, which every fair-minded Australian supports. It helps operators genuinely open their doors to people with disability — no ideology, no marketing checklist, just practical access. Or take the Star Ratings system, trusted by travellers for decades because it simply tells you whether the room is clean and the service is good. Neither asks a business to adopt anyone’s worldview.”
“Rainbow Ready is different. Businesses are assessed on their ‘marketing’, their ‘guest resources’ and their staff’s ideological ‘preparedness’. That isn’t equal treatment — it’s special treatment, and Australian taxpayers are indirectly footing the bill through a Government-backed framework,” he said.
Mr Shelton pointed to recent controversy at Westfield Parramatta, where an exhibition promoting “adult sexual and gender fluid ideas”, created with ACON, was placed directly outside the Timezone children’s arcade, as evidence of a broader pattern
“First it’s a display parked outside a kids’ arcade, and now it’s a national accreditation scheme. Families are entitled to ask: where exactly are we supposed to go where our children won’t be presented with adult content and ideology dressed up as inclusion?” Mr Shelton said.”
Family First Party is calling on the Australian Tourism Industry Council and the Federal Government to fund and promote a new, parallel “Family Friendly” accreditation — giving businesses a clear, practical way to signal that their venues and marketing are free of ‘queer’ activity, displays or promotion of LGBTQIA+ ideology, so that parents can book with confidence.
“If there’s a national scheme to reassure one group of travellers, there should be one to reassure families too. A ‘Family Friendly’ mark would let mums and dads know, before they book, that they’ve chosen somewhere their kids won’t be confronted with content or messaging that belongs in an adult conversation, not a family holiday,” Mr Shelton said.”
“We’re not asking anyone to be excluded from a hotel or a tour. We’re asking for the same thing Rainbow Ready claims to offer — certainty before you book — to be extended to the millions of Australian families who want a holiday free of ideology, not just to one interest group,” he said.
Family First Party is calling on the Australian Tourism Industry Council to publicly disclose the full public funding and in-kind government support behind the development and national rollout of Rainbow Ready, and for state and federal tourism ministers to back a Family Friendly accreditation with the same commitment
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