Conservative Liberal senator Eric Abetz has slammed the country's top business leaders over a fresh push on same-sex marriage, saying Australians were "fed up" with political correctness being placed above services.
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Companies including Qantas, ANZ, Google and eBay on Monday launched a new campaign on marriage equality, in stark defiance of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's advice to "stick to their knitting".
The initiative invites customers to order one of 250,000 specially-commissioned rings bearing the phrase "until we all belong" - which will also appear on Qantas boarding passes and other paraphernalia.
The ring is incomplete, representing the "gap" in equality between same-sex couples and their heterosexual peers. In a series of video advertisements, straight allies are encouraged to wear the rings "until we all belong".
The campaign is spearheaded by Airbnb in conjunction with the official marriage equality campaign, and it is understood to be worth in excess of $5 million, including in-kind resources from the major firms.
"Business has stepped up and shown real leadership on this," said Equality Campaign director Tiernan Brady.
"They're showing us that their commitment to the issue is deepening. They know this is good for their employees, it is good for their customers and it is good for Australia."
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said the initiative was an opportunity for "anyone to make their support for a brother, sister, parent, friend or loved one known".
But in a sign of the politically-charged environment surrounding the issue, the CEOs of Qantas, ANZ and Google declined to speak on the record to support the campaign.
It was immediately attacked by the Turnbull government's arch-conservative, Senator Abetz, who accused chief executives of favouring politically correct campaigns over their own shareholders and employees.
"It's disappointing that certain CEOs are trying to establish their personal PC credentials rather than being fully focused on the interests of their shareholders," Senator Abetz told Fairfax Media.
"The 5000 staff at Qantas who lost their jobs a few years ago and the 200 staff who lost their jobs at ANZ last year would be very disappointed to learn those companies couldn't afford to keep them but have the money for these types of campaigns.
Senator Abetz said Australians should have no doubt campaigns on same-sex marriage were funded by higher prices and job losses.
"I think Australians are getting fed up with some big business CEOs constantly trying to wave their PC credentials rather than getting on and delivering the services consumers expect at a reasonable price," he said.
When the bosses of dozens of major Australian firms signed a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month calling on him to legislate for marriage equality, they were told to "stick to their knitting" by a fired-up Mr Dutton.
CEOs should campaign on social issues "in their own time and on their own dime", he said. The tirade prompted a response from cabinet colleagues Simon Birmingham and Julie Bishop, who defended the CEOs' right to free speech.
Mr Dutton declined to comment on the latest campaign on Monday.
The Turnbull government's policy on same-sex marriage is to hold a national plebiscite to decide the issue, but the Senate rejected the enabling legislation.
Conservatives are urging Mr Turnbull not to waver from that position, however, many MPs believe the matter needs to be resolved before the next election.
