Excerpt:
The burqa and other facial coverings would be banned from being worn by visitors to Parliament House in Canberra, if the anti-burqa campaigner Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi gets his way.
Parliament's two presiding officers, the Speaker and the Senate President are considering the request.
Senator Bernardi first raised the issue in Estimates four years ago but in the wake of last week's terror raids has renewed his campaign to have the burqa outlawed in public spaces. During the Senate Estimates hearing in 2010, Senator Bernardi was told that a person wearing a balaclava entering Parliament would trigger an alert and be watched but they would be allowed to enter the building without removing their facial covering.