Right: Many people, including Deputy PM Julia Gillard, have pointed out that, while ski masks have been used many times in armed hold-ups, this has not led to a ban on ski-masks.
Further implications
It seems unlikely that any general ban will be placed on the wearing of the burqa in Australia. The most that seems in any way possible is that there will be consideration given to whether the burqa should be banned in areas such as banks and airports. Were this to happen, it would bring the burqa into line with other items of clothing such as balaclavas and ski masks which are already banned in these places.However, it is worth noting that the burqa has a significance beyond that of a balaclava, a ski mask or a motorcycle helmet. The burqa is a culturally and religiously significant item for many Muslims. Were it to be banned this would be construed by this group as an attack on their faith and their culture. It is interesting that in the current debate Muslims who do not favour the burqa have come out in support of the rights of those Muslim women who choose to wear it.
Challenging the burqa is likely to drive a wedge between many Muslims, both moderate and conservative, and other Australians. Paradoxically, a ban on the burqa could well set back the cause of Muslim assimilation in Australia.
This is such a potentially contentious in Australia because it sets various of our legally sanctioned values on a collision course. We have laws that prohibit sexual discrimination. Viewed from a Western perspective, the burqa is a sexually discriminatory item of clothing. However, we also have laws that prohibit racial discrimination and religious vilification. Banning the burqa would seem to contravene the values inherent in the latter two sets of laws. It is difficult to appreciate that some women do not share the Western view of what constitutes liberation, indeed they may well attribute an importance to obedience that makes Western concepts of freedom and independence irrelevant to them.