Australia’s first openly homosexual Prime Minister to march at Sydney Mardi Gras

Anthony Albanese will become the first Prime Minister to march in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade as he likens the campaign for an Indigenous Voice to the fight for marriage equality.

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.

Speaking at the unveiling of a rainbow beacon at the recently renamed Pride Square, Mr Albanese 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.