Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will not be attending Mardi Gras this weekend.

Declaring he has “other matters” to attend to interstate, Turnbull will not be able to make it down to this year’s celebrations which are held in his electorate of Wentworth.

Last year Turnbull made history as the first sitting Prime Minister to attend the event. However the membership of Mardi Gras supported a motion at their AGM stating that the OM would not be welcome in 2017 due to his failure to advance the cause of marriage equality.

The decision was overturned by the board of Mardi Gras who insisted that Turnbull was still welcome to attend. THe decision was met with a mixed response from the local LGBTI+ community.

“I go most years, I’m not going this year, I’ll be interstate on other matters,” Turnbull told radio station WSFM. “But Lucy and I have been strong supporters of Mardi Gras and the major sponsoring organisations for many, many years.

Turnbull said he thought Mardi Gras was a great event.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has confirmed that he will once again be attending the event.