Excerpt:
A call for a controversial ban on wearing the burqa in public has split opinion and sparked outrage from the Muslim community who labelled it a political stunt.
Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi yesterday sparked outrage after he called for the Islamic headdress to be banned following an earlier robbery in a Sydney store by a burqa clad man.
Writing on his personal blog, the outspoken senator said the veil was "emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and n'er do wells".
He wants to see it banned, but also because it prevents women from interacting in normal day-to-day life. "The burqa isolates some Australians from others," he wrote.