Albanese makes pitch on Indigenous Voice as he reveals plans for Mardi Gras
The PM has revealed his plans for Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival, including something never seen before in Australia.
Anthony Albanese will become the first sitting Prime Minister to march in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
The Prime Minister made an impassioned plea to the LGBTIQ+ community for their support on the Voice as he delivered a speech in Newtown in Sydney’s inner west on Saturday.
During his speech, Mr Albanese likened the campaign for an Indigenous Voice to the fight for marriage equality.
Speaking at the unveiling of a rainbow beacon at the recently renamed Pride Square, he revealed he would be the first prime minister to march in the Mardi Gras parade.
“I’ll be the first prime minister not to watch the march on Mardi Gras, but to march,” he told the crowd.
The prime minister, who has taken part in previous Mardi Gras festivals, will be joined by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the first openly gay woman in parliament.
Former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull became the first sitting Prime Minister to attend Mardi Gras in 2016, but he didn’t take part in the march.
The annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has grown to become part of one of the largest LGBTIQ+ festivals in the world since its inception in 1978, when protesters marched for gay rights down Oxford St.
Mr Albanese on Saturday said he was committed to removing inequality based on someone’s sexuality or identity.
“We speak a lot about tolerance - and tolerance is really important - but this is about a step that is way more important than tolerance,” Mr Albanese said.
“We need to celebrate our diversity, not just tolerate it, because our diversity is what gives our society strength.”
The prime minister urged the crowd to campaign for the Voice to “make sure we get this done”.
He said he was confident Australians would look back on a successful referendum on the Voice in a similar way to how they now remembered the successful campaign for marriage equality.
“Just as when we got marriage equality done. People said, ‘Well, why didn’t we do that earlier?’” he said.
“And when we get this done, people will say, ‘Why didn’t we do it earlier?’”
Mr Albanese still faces an uphill battle on the Voice before the referendum on enshrining the body in the Constitution is held later this year.
He said on Saturday the idea of an Indigenous advisory body to consult with parliaments of the day was common sense rather than radical.
“That is all this is about recognising that privilege that we have, showing respect to the traditional owners who have cared for this land for thousands of generations,” he said.
“It’s that people who are impacted by decisions of government - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - should be consulted on matters that affect them. It’s that simple.”
Back on home turf in his electorate of Grayndler, Mr Albanese was greeted with cheers and applause as he stepped up to the microphone to speak despite starting a few minutes late.
In his speech, he declared he was a progressive and said diversity was something to celebrate, not just tolerate.
“One of the reasons why I am a progressive is that that’s how society moves forward. It gives me hope,” he said.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, you know, what about in the good old days?’
“In the good old days, we had no equality based upon people’s sexuality. We had a White Australia policy.”
The Prime Minister was introduced by Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, who said Mr Albanese had been fighting for equal rights since he entered federal parliament in 1996.
His speech was followed by an a capella rendition of Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now performed by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir.
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