An LGBTQI campaigner has called for Anthony Albanese to be banned from Sydney’s Mardi Gras after his government broke a promise about the next census.
Following the decision by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) not to record the number of gay and trans people in the 2026 census, which is a Labor policy promise, a leading activist says the Prime Minister should be shunned.
Just.Equal spokesperson Rodney Croome said despite Mr Albanese being the first prime minister to march in the iconic event last year he should not be invited to next year’s gay Mardi Gras or future ones.
‘He may have marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for WorldPride last year, but in the eyes of many LGBTIQA+ Australians he has now pulled up the draw bridge to equality,’ Mr Croome told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Federal Assistant Competition Minister Andrew Leigh confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday there would be no new topics covered in the next census.
‘While the Australian Bureau of Statistics tests changes from time to time, it is the decision of the government that there will be no change to the topics in the next census, which will be held in 2026,’ a spokesperson for the minister said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported three unnamed Labor MPs ‘were upset by the decision’ to not include questions in the 2026 survey to capture the number of LGBTQI Australians.
The publication quoted unnamed Labor sources as giving different reasons for the scrapping.
There are calls to ban Anthony Albanese from taking part in Sydney ‘s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras over a controversial census decision
Two unnamed Labor MPs claimed the government feared a backlash from the Coalition and faith groups with any census change having to pass the Senate.
Another anonymous MP said there may have been worries the LGBTQ community would be undercounted because preferred to keep their sexuality entirely private.
However, another ‘government source’ said the decision was made to show Mr Albanese was ‘razor-focused’ on cost of living pressures and to avoid distraction with ‘non-core’ minority issues.
The source also said officials worried about making the census more complicated and said other questions had also been jettisoned to keep it streamlined.
Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown accused the government of abandoning a marginalised group.
‘The federal government has betrayed LGBTIQ+ people around Australia who will again be rendered invisible in 2026,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘[It] hasn’t taken this opportunity to finally reflect the diversity of Australia and gather crucial information about the kinds of services people need.’
Following the decision by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) not to record the number of gay and trans people in the national census, which is a Labor policy promise, a leading activist says the Prime Minister should be shunned
A leading gay rights activist has called on the Prime Minister to be banned from the Gay Mardi Gras over an apparent census backflip (pictured a participant in the 2024 march_
April Long, who made the Australian Human Rights Commission complaint, said the outcome was devastating.
‘This isn’t just about numbers or data, it’s about our basic human right to be counted, recognised and valued,’ they said.
About one in 10 Australians are thought to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, according to a 2019 Department of Health report.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Prime Minister and the ABS for comment.
