Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says he doesn’t support a ban on the burqa, despite a proposal from one of his Coalition colleagues.
Nationals MP George Christensen will put forward a motion that bans wearing full facial coverings in public at the party’s federal conference this weekend.
‘I don’t believe that we should ban the burqa, it’s an issue you can debate, there are arguments for and against it,’ Mr Dutton told Sky News.
Mr Dutton said a better area of focus for debate would be on people who refuse to stand or remove head coverings in courts.
‘It has nothing to do with religious belief, it has everything to do with a lack of respect for Australian law,’ he said.