Burqa bans - NSW and Europe  

Last month, Rev Fred Nile of the Christian Democratic Partytried to introduce a private member's bill into the NSW Legislative Council that would ban the wearing of face-coverings that conceal identity. This has become known as the 'burqa bill' as it would prohibit the wearing of the full face-covering burqa and niqab. He couldn't get permission to explain the Bill - the Council voted against allowing a debate.  

However, he has since been granted permission to introduce and explain the Bill. This explanation was supported by most of the MLCs - with the exception of the four Greens and family First MP Gordon Moyes (read media article).  

His media release says that, in his speech on 22 June, "Amidst angry protests, Rev Nile gave a detailed speech addressing accusations of racism and religious discrimination, stating the bill had nothing to do with race or religion." Read Fred's media release.

In his speech, which is included in the media release, he said "The purpose of the Summary Offences Amendment (Full-face Coverings Prohibition Bill 2010) is relatively straightforward. It is based on the Belgium bill. This bill is to prohibit the concealing of a personal identity whilst in public without a reasonable excuse to do so. As I have already stated, nowhere does the bill mention "burqa" or "Muslim". While this legislation has become known as the burqa bill, the scope of the bill is much broader than just that one item of clothing."

He goes on to explain the context of his arguments about the wearing of full face-coverings in public. Some years ago, he introduced a similar bill and it was defeated - the media called him names for proposing such a bill. However, the media generally misinterpreted the bill claiming that Fred was trying to ban the wearing of the hijab or headscarf, which wasn't the case. 
Fred has explained that the two reasons he is proposing the bill are the rights of women (especially those who are forced to wear the face covering by others) and security. 

The incident that prompted the bill last month was a robbery in Sydney where the robber was wearing a full face-covering burqa! That seems like a major security issue to us! 
At the time Liberal SA senator Cory Bernardi wrote on his blog calling for a ban on full face-coverings - he noted that he is not allowed to wear his motorbike helmet into a bank as a security measure.

Europe and the banning of burqas/face coverings...

In the past few months a number of European countries have banned the wearing of Islamic face-covering veils such as the the burqa or nicqab in public - Belgium is one nation - and France is considering a partial ban.
This report from the BBC includes a description and pictures of the various types of head coverings.

Belgium:  Lower House passed the bill in April 2010 - read report.

France:The French parliament is currently debating a bill to ban the wearing of the burqa or niqab in public. The vote is expected next week. Report: BBC 
Report about threats to imam who supports the burqa ban - read report.   

Spain: Late June 2010- Spain's upper house of parliament approved a motion calling on Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government to ban the Islamic veil in public.
Catalonia - Nine areas in Catalonia have implemented bans on wearing the burqa. On July 2, the Catalonian parliament voted not to ban the the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public places across the Spanish region - they reversed an initial vote. Read report.
See  Lleida - region of Catalonia - read report.  

Now the Council of Europe has voted against the banning of burqas, saying some women may choose to wear them... but when security issues are at stake they say "that the veils could be banned when public security or professional obligations require women to show their faces". Read report.