An Australian politician is planning on introducing legislation to parliament to ban the burqa for public safety reasons. Senator Jacqui Lambie has announced plans to introduce a bill to ban the facial covering worn by some Muslim women.
A picture of a burqa-wearing woman holding a gun with the text, “for security reasons it’s now time to ban the burqa,” was recently posted on Senator Lambie’s Facebook page - but was subsequently removed after complaints.
However, leading lawmakers say the bill could violate section 116 of the constitution which states the Commonwealth should not create laws prohibiting the free exercise of any religion.
Furthermore, both sides of parliament have come out to denounce Senator Lambie’s comments, with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying banning the burqa is exactly what the Islamic State extremists would want.
Mr Turnbull said the extremists’ goal is to create fear and anger in the broader community, which would lead to people demonising Muslims, which would in turn cause more members of the Muslim community to support terrorists.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten rejected Senator Lambie’s comments saying he agreed with the Communications Minister, “It feeds right into their hands.”
Australia is a multicultural country – all cultures and faiths should be accepted. Please sign and share the petition to demand Australia does not discriminate against Islamic women by banning the burqa.
