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2014/15: Should those wearing burkas and niqabs be segregated within the Australian Parliament?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On April 11, 2011, a news report was telecast reporting on the decision of the French government to ban the burka in public. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'A lack of limits placed on wearing face veils poses significant security risks at a time when violent crime and religious extremism is on the rise globally'
Rise Up Australia Party
'This measure absolutely targets a group and that is women and it's Muslim women'
Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner
The issue at a glance
On October 2, 2014, it was reported that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop, and the Senate President, Stephen Parry, had issued a security control for the management of Australia's federal Parliament.
The security control stated, 'Persons with facial coverings entering the galleries of the House of Representatives and Senate will be seated in the enclosed galleries. This will ensure that persons with facial coverings can continue to enter the Chamber galleries, without needing to be identifiable.'
The immediate implications of this control are that Muslim women wearing either burkas or niqabs will not be able to sit in the downstairs public galleries should they wish to come and observe the operation of the Australian Parliament. They only place they will be able to be seated is in glassed in upstairs galleries typically used for groups of schoolchildren visiting the federal Parliament.
This interim ruling followed sporadic discussion regarding whether these traditional Muslim facial coverings should be banned in Australia or merely banned from certain key locations, such as Parliament House. The push to have these garments banned had come from Liberal Senator Corey Bernardi and Palmer United Senator Jacqui Lambie.
The decision effectively to segregate Muslim women wearing burkas or niqabs who visited the federal Parliament immediately met with opposition. It has been condemned by many, including Muslim groups, the Opposition, the Greens and the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.
The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has requested that the Speaker and the Senate President rethink their ruling. He has suggested that it will no longer be in operation when Parliament resumes on October 20, 2014. Some commentators are less sure as the Prime Minister's request may be seen as a challenge to the independence of the two presiding officers of the Parliament.