Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has used the dying days of the campaign to reignite a national debate on the burqa, while defending the controversial Liberal candidate in the Treasurer’s seat of McMahon.
In making comments about the practice of Muslim women covering their head and face, Mr Abbott said the burqa was “a very confronting attire”.
“Frankly, it’s not the sort of attire that I would like to see widespread in our streets,” he told reporters in Rockhampton on Saturday.
Mr Abbott was asked whether he supported the views of McMahon candidate Ray King, a former police officer who has urged an end to women wearing the burqa.
The Opposition Leader said people were “entitled to make their choice” to wear the Islamic attire, and previously he has stopped short of calling for a ban.
But Keysar Trad, a spokesman for the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, reacted to Mr Abbott’s censure.
“The election should not be a debate about the burqa,” he said. “Anyone who uses women’s dress as an issue in politics is just showing his bankruptcy of policies.”
Mr Trad said while he did not advocate wearing the burqa, it was an matter of individual choice. “Those who chose to wear it should be free to do so without being subjected to pressure from male political aspirants,” he said.
Community advocate Rebecca Kay said Mr Abbott should “show true leadership and represent all Australians”.
“He should rethink these appalling comments especially since western Sydney has been tipped to make or break this election,” Ms Kay said.
Melbourne lawyer Fatoum Souki, secretary of the Australian Arabic Women’s Group, said she did not know what card Mr Abbott was trying to play by focusing on the burqa.
“It’s not something that is widespread among the community, nor will it be any time soon just because there’s not many people who wear a burqa,” she said.
“It is the beauty of this country that you can live as you wish, you can wear whatever you want, believe in whatever you want and that’s what makes us stand out in the world forum.”
A Coalition spokesperson said it was common for Mr Abbott to use this form of description, citing similar remarks he had made in 2011 and 2010, when he said, “I would certainly hope Australians would choose not to wear it.”
Mr King, a former Liverpool police commander standing against Treasurer Chris Bowen, drew a link between the burqa and criminality at a $300-a-head fund-raiser in Smithfield in May, where guests included disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson, according to an attendee.
Mr King was the subject of a complaint to the Community Relations Commission in 2011 over allegedly racist remarks he made at a “meet-and-greet” with migrant representatives.
Mr Abbott refused to comment on a separate Fairfax Media report revealing Mr King had proposed a radical new policing system in which criminal suspects would be injected with satellite-trackable microchips shot from a “high-powered sniper rifle”.
“I’m just not going to get into the micro-detail of policing,” Mr Abbott said.
He accused the Labor Party of running a smear campaign against Mr King.
“Ray King is a decorated police officer with an unblemished record,” he said.
“His integrity and professionalism has been repeatedly vouched for.”
Mr King appeared before the Wood royal commission into the NSW police force over the practice of Fairfield detectives receiving free meals and alcohol from the Marconi Club in exchange for an informal security presence.