Labor leader Bill Shorten has called on Tony Abbott to show leadership and tackle head on the socially divisive views of some of his backbench MPs.
Mr Shorten’s comments come ahead of a meeting in Canberra on Wednesday between Parliament’s presiding officers and security officials, during which a decision will be made on a request by Liberal senator Cory Bernardi to ban the burqa from being worn inside the building.
Fairfax Media has revealed Mr Abbott’s most senior adviser, Peta Credlin, expressed support for a ban when advising Nationals MP George Christensen, who is also pushing for the headwear to be outlawed, on how better to prosecute the argument without inflaming tensions.
Mr Shorten said the time had come for Mr Abbott to show leadership in the debate about the controversial head wear.
The Opposition Leader, who stressed he does not support a burqa ban in Parliament House, said Mr Abbott needed to make it clear that he didn’t support calls for a burqa ban.
“It is not good enough to talk tolerance and yet have your backbenchers out there pushing socially divisive arguments,” Mr Shorten said.
“Long after people have forgotten some of the extreme words of the bigots, they will remember the silence of our leaders. Australia deserves better than silence from our leaders. He should stamp on this issue today.
“He should say that the Liberal government he leads will conduct itself in a bipartisan matter along with Labor to promote social cohesion.”
Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who has also has responsibility for religious freedoms, urged people to calm down, saying the government was clearly not going to ban the burqa.
“There is a legitimate basis for asking people to remove certain items of clothing for security purposes at check points. But after that people have to be free to wear religious items in the public square,” he said.
As such, Mr Wilson said that “a blanket ban on a burqa is illiberal and inconsistent with religious tolerance and freedom. Measures to ensure security must be measured and respectful of religious freedom”.
He stressed there was a difference between banning the wearing of the burqa at a check point and then banning it in the Parliament entirely, which he did not favour.
‘Pathetic attempt to whip up division’
Fairfax Media revealed on Wednesday that Ms Credlin, Mr Abbott’s chief of staff, supported a burqa ban in Parliament house on security grounds.
Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan said Ms Credlin’s support for a ban on wearing burqas in Parliament House had the potential to undermine Mr Abbott’s own call for calm over national security.
Ms MacTiernan told Fairfax Media the campaign to ban the burqa from the building was a “pathetic attempt to whip up division” based on a “concocted problem” with the sole intent of “raising the temperature on an already difficult issue”.
She said she had not once seen a burqa in Parliament House since her election in 2013, even when attending Islamic events.
“The last thing we need to do is go down this backwater, claiming we’ve got hundreds of people roaming the corridors of Parliament in burqas,” Ms MacTiernan said.
“This is perhaps alarmingly close to the leadership; it would have to make you wonder if all these expressions to keep calm are as genuine as one would like to think they are.”
Ms MacTiernan said she finds the burqa uncomfortable on the basis of women’s rights but said that did not justify a campaign to have it outlawed.
Labor’s Ed Husic, who is Federal Parliament’s only Muslim MP, took a swipe at Ms Credlin’s seniority within the government, saying she was the second most senior person in the government after Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer.
Burqa ban needs to be debated: Lambie
Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie, who is planning to introduce a private member’s bill to ban the burqa in public places, welcomed reports of Ms Credlin’s position.
“Everybody’s starting to get on the bandwagon and not just Peta Credlin,” Senator Lambie told reporters in Canberra.
“This needs to come down to the leadership of Tony Abbott, and Tony Abbott needs to show some strength and courage under the circumstances and support my call for banning the burqa.
“It’s something that needs to be discussed and it needs to be debated.”
Two legal experts - George Newhouse and George Williams - have raised doubts about any Commonwealth law to ban the burqa, saying it could violate Section 116 of the constitution, which forbids the federal government from making laws that prohibit the free expression of religion.
Senator Lambie said she wanted her bill to be ready when Parliament resumes in a fortnight.
Asked how she planned to ensure it would be constitutionally valid, Senator Lambie said: “I believe where there’s a will there’s a way.
“And if you believe it’s better for the country now and the future and it’s going to stop the divide, then this is what we need to do.”