By Riley Stuart
Malcolm Turnbull was gone, but certainly not forgotten.
Once one of the loudest political voices supporting marriage equality, the Prime Minister was a notable absentee from Saturday night’s Mardi Gras parade in Sydney.
The glittering spectacle takes place on the border of his Wentworth electorate, but just whether Mr Turnbull was welcome on Oxford Street depends on who you ask.
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten marched and accused the PM of dodging the event.
“I don’t think there’s much point in being the Prime Minister of Australia if the only thing you do when you become Prime Minister is look for a place to hide,” he said.
“I know that personally he supports marriage equality. If you want to be in charge of this country, you’ve got to be true to yourself.”
Hundreds of thousands of people converged on the inner-Sydney suburbs of Surry Hills and Darlinghurst to catch a glimpse of the almost 200 floats and thousands of performers.
Turnbull in Queensland
Mr Turnbull was in Queensland on Saturday, where One Nation is now polling at more than 20 per cent.
He has been a regular at the parade and last year became the first sitting prime minister to attend.
But the fanfare surrounding that milestone was short-lived.
At November’s Mardi Gras annual general meeting, the group Community Action Against Homophobia successfully campaigned to have Mr Turnbull barred from receiving an official invitation to the parade.
However, that decision was later overturned by the event’s board.
Trent Zimmerman, the Liberal Member for North Sydney who has attended at least 10 parades, marched with the party’s float and defended his boss.
“He’s been a regular attender and his record is probably better than mine so you can’t complain about that,” Mr Zimmerman said.
The parade is as much about political statements as it is sequins, and this year’s theme was “creating equality”.
Community Action Against Homophobia co-convenor Cat Rose said Mr Turnbull was not welcome at the parade.
“He has not given us equality, and now he has run for the hills,” she said.
“We don’t need his phony friendship or his excuses. We need equality.”
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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