Progress Shark is attacked by Mark Latham as a 'garbage' LGBTI+ statue trends now The LGBTQIA+ shark that is dividing Australia: Furious politician unleashes on statue named 'Progress Shark' - but the people behind exhibition are 'blown away' by outpouring of love Progress Shark will go up outside the Australian Museum An artist's impression of the installation has been shared It has been slammed by a politician but praised by others By Danyal Hussain For Daily Mail Australia Published: 04:20 GMT, 8 February 2023 | Updated: 04:25 GMT, 8 February 2023 Viewcomments A shark statue decked out in the rainbow LGBTQIA+ flag - plus colours representing ethnic minorities - has been slammed as 'garbage' by a prominent politician. However, the Australian Museum in Sydney said staff have been 'blown away' by an 'outpouring of love' for its exhibition, named Progress Shark. From next week the museum's iconic shark will be decked out in the colours of the progress flag. Its main body will feature the LGBTQ rainbow while pink and blue stripes to represent trans people will be positioned towards its fin. Black and brown stripes to represent ethnic minorities will also be placed on 'Progress Shark'. Though it has yet to be installed, an artist's impression has been widely shared on Twitter, attracting a flood of comments. The museum's iconic shark statue is set to undergo a makeover to celebrate Sydney hosting WorldPride this year NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham blasted Progress Shark, describing it as 'garbage'. '(Premier Dominic) Perrottet and his ministers bash our great community clubs while funding this garbage. Today's Liberal and National Parties in action,' he wrote. (Daily Mail Australia has sought comment from the museum and Mr Perrottet about how exactly Progress Shark is being funded.) The museum said it had been inundated with positive messages about its exhibition. 'We are blown away by all of the love that is being shown for #ProgressShark. We can confirm it will be installed before the end of next week,' the museum tweeted on Wednesday. The WorldPride festival in Sydney will run from February 17 to March 5 featuring hundreds of events with organisers expecting about 500,000 partygoers to attend the celebrations. The festival will coincide with the city's 50th Australian Gay Pride Week, 45th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. To mark the significant milestones the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up in the colours of the Rainbow Flag for New Year's Eve fireworks. During the festival the bridge will be closed to traffic to allow for a Pride March. This will be the first time the bridge has closed since the World Youth Day celebrations in 2008. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility