ABC has been slammed for its underwhelming coverage of Mardi Gras while controversial senator Lidia Thorpe made her triumphant return after a disastrous one last year.
Tens of thousands of people lined Oxford Street and craned necks from rooftops and balconies to catch a glimpse of 181 floats taking part in the 47th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Among the first of the floats was one from LaPa Legends which celebrates LGBTQ communities with links to the Aboriginal population of La Perouse in Sydney’s east.
Ms Thorpe, dressed as a superhero carrying a sign reading ‘Not My King’, walked alongside the float.
She announced her attendance in a short Facebook video where she made light of the controversy she caused at the parade in 2024 when she laid on the road in front of the NSW Police float which brought the entire event to a screeching halt.
‘Take two, and yes, guess where I’m at… Mardi Gras! And I am with the La Perouse mob and we have our elders being driven like the queens that they are,’ she said.
Despite the festivities on the ground however, those who could not make it to the event spent the night chiding the ABC for its lackluster coverage.
Instead of showing the actual parade going on in the background the public broadcaster bizarrely spent the evening focusing on a panel of commentators discussing what the audience could not see.
‘Please ABC just show the parade I beg you,’ one woman wrote on social media.
‘Yo why is [the ABC’s] Mardi Gras coverage basically MISSING THE PARADE,’ another wrote.
‘No issues with the commentary but please just show the parade,’ a third added.
‘We don’t need picture in picture of the hosts and you missed the first three floats – some of the most important floats.’
’12 minutes in. Worst Mardi Gras coverage ever,’ a fourth announced.
While the parade could still be seen behind the commentators and in a little box on the bottom-right of the screen, many viewers thought it was a disgrace.
‘Do better for the community ABC,’ one person declared.
