Anthony Albanese made history at Saturday night’s parade when he became the first sitting prime minister to take part in the 45-year march.
He was one of tens of thousands of people who returned a riotous rainbow to the gay community’s spiritual home as the Mardi Gras parade reawakened Oxford Street for the first time since 2020.
Mr Albanese led the Rainbow Labor float with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns.
“It’s a shame I’m the first (Prime Minister marching) but this is a celebration of modern Australia. We are a diverse, inclusive Australia and that’s a good thing,” he said.
“People want to see their government be inclusive and represent everyone, no matter who they love, no matter their identity, no matter where they live.”
After marching on Mardi Gras dozens of times before, the prime minister urged people to remember the original parade participants, known as the ’78ers.
“(They) were thrown in jail for the simple fact of who they were, because they happened to be gay or lesbian,” he said.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was removed from the parade after lying in the street in protest in front of an Australian Federal Police float, temporarily halting the march.
The Mardi Gras celebration, themed Gather, Dream, Amplify, featured many veterans alongside crowd-pleasing newcomers.
Dykes on Bikes and their male counterparts led the charge, delighting parade spectators as they filled the streets with exhaust fumes and strange joy.
Other Mardi Gras hits included Surf Life Saving, whose reps wore budgie smugglers and beach towels, and DIY Rainbow’s We Love Britney Spears float, Baby one more time from the rear speakers.
About 12,500 demonstrators on 200 floats danced, sang and celebrated as they commemorated the parade’s homecoming.
The crowd was largely well behaved and the parade passed largely without incident, NSW police said.
Four people were arrested for offenses including assaulting police after one officer allegedly suffered a broken nose during an Oxford St arrest and a second officer suffered abrasions and a black eye in an alleged attack on the way to Moore Park.
Many parade attendees later migrated to the Mardi Gras celebration in the Entertainment Quarter, which was followed by the Mardi Gras Laneway in the early afternoon.
The event, “the epitome of kick-ons,” started out as a portable speaker on a milk crate. It has since grown into a party with multiple dance floors and an open-air stage that will seat 10,000 ticket holders through early Monday morning.
WorldPride has one more week before it ends with a historic march across the Sydney Harbor Bridge, where 50,000 people are expected to join in a call for global equality.
Called Sydney’s largest event since the 2000 Olympics, WorldPride is expected to host over half a million people at its approximately 300 events.