Minister for Tourism and Gold Coast MP, Steven Ciobo, has today sold Gold Coast tourism down the river, by sucking up to One Nation for a preference deal.

Tourism is crucial to the Gold Coast economy, employing thousands of local workers and bringing in millions of dollars to local businesses.

A huge number of overseas tourists to the Gold Coast come from our Asia Pacific neighbours, including China, Indonesia and Malaysia, and the Middle East.

One Nation’s anti-Asian, anti-Muslim rhetoric risks sending a message to overseas tourists that they are not welcome here.

Rather than stand up to this Ciobo has shown he’ll put Gold Coast jobs and dollars at risk, just to get a vote.

During an interview with ABC TV this morning, when asked about the Queensland and Federal LNP doing preference deals with One Nation, Ciobo said, “What we've got to do is make decisions that put us in the best possible position to govern.”

He then went on to praise One Nation, saying “the One Nation of today is a very different beast to what it was 20 years ago.”