By James Glenday, Naomi Woodley, and staff
Friday 3 October 2014
Photo: The Prime Minister has asked the Speaker to reconsider the restrictions. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
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A rumour about burka-clad protesters appears to have been behind yesterday's controversial decision to segregate people with face coverings in Parliament House.
Security officers and members of the media heard about 10 people were planning to disrupt Question Time yesterday.
The protest did not eventuate.
But in a bid to prevent it, Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Senate President Stephen Parry declared people wearing facial coverings, such as burkas and niqabs, would be forced to sit in the glassed enclosures normally reserved for school groups.
Senator Parry gave this explanation for the "interim measures": "One of the key reasons for this is that if there is an incident or someone is interjecting from the gallery ... they need to be identified quickly and easily."
Both presiding officers stress they are still waiting for security advice about head coverings, but the Prime Minister has asked Ms Bishop to reconsider the new measures.
Tony Abbott says he only learned of the plan to segregate people hours after the decision had been announced.
"Someone gave me a bit of paper at the close of Question Time. I regret to say that I didn't have a chance to read it and the first I was aware of the decision was sometime yesterday evening," Mr Abbott said today.
"I asked the Speaker to re-think that decision and my understanding is that it was an interim decision, that it would be looked at again in the light of security advice that will come in coming days and I'm sure that the matter will be fully resolved before the Parliament comes back in a fortnight."
Mr Abbott said it was important to maintain democracy by allowing people to wear what they choose.
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"I know there's been a bit of agitation about the burka over the last few days and I can understand why people do get excited about it, because as I've said on many occasions, I find it a pretty confronting form of attire and wish people chose not to wear it," he said.
"In a democracy such as ours, in a free and pluralist democracy, it's not the business of government to tell people what they should and shouldn't wear.
"I should also say that there is a difference, obviously, between what people may be entirely permitted to do in the ordinary public spaces of our country and what might be required in a secure building.
"So in public areas of this building, people ought to be allowed to wear what they want. In secure areas of this building, obviously people need to be identifiable and that normally includes having your face visible."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has welcomed the Prime Minister's decision to step in.
"It's important that our Parliament measures up in the same way that we expect our young men and women to measure up overseas," he said.
"Our parliament should fight injustice, fight intolerance, fight prejudice, fight sectarianism. We shouldn't be part of the problem, we should be part of the solution."
Staff 'unable to explain decision' when questioned by MP
Former speaker Anna Burke said there was no reason to isolate women wearing burkas or niqabs when in Parliament.
Ms Burke said everyone who entered Parliament House was screened, so it was not clear what the justification was for the segregation.
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"It should be down to a security assessment. Where is the security risk? Where is the need to identify people's faces who are coming into the building? What's the security rationale behind this? None of that has been given, none of that has been explained.
"Our concern would be, the public's concern would be, that you're bringing in some form of weaponry. That's what you're being screened for. You're being screened for a knife. You're being screened for a gun. You're not being screened for your face. You're going through a metal detector like you are at an airport. At an airport, is everyone's face screened?
"Once they're inside the building, they've been screened, they're in an enclosed gallery in the parliament. The only trouble they can cause is to stand up and yell out - and people do that now. Very rarely, but it occasionally happens - with or without a burka."
Parliament's first Muslim MP, Labor's Ed Husic, described his shock at hearing of details of the segregation plans.
"It's just not right. It doesn't feel right. People would note in their hearts that its not right and they'd want to see something different happen," he said.
Coalition MP Andrew Laming said staff in the presiding offices could not explain the decision to him when he raised his concerns.
You're not being screened for your face. You're going through a metal detector like you are at an airport. At an airport, is everyone's face screened?
Former federal parliamentary speaker, Anna Burke
"I think it is a degrading decision. I really want to make sure that security takes precedence but once security is satisfied, then I don't think that we should be asking people to change their clothing," he said.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said if the interim arrangement was allowed to stand it would be clearly discriminatory.
She said comparisons to people wearing balaclavas or non-religious face coverings were unhelpful and wrong.
"A woman who chooses to wear the hijab, the burka, the niqab, is a woman who has a strong religious faith and it's about her freedom to practice a religious belief and also its about the fact that she should be free to choose what it is that she wears so it is quite different to people coming in with motorcycle helmets, with balaclavas," she said.
The Prime Minister's push to revisit the interim decision was welcomed by the chief executive of the Muslim Women's Association, Maha Abdo.
"He showed really great, positive leadership. It clearly shows courage and you know, that he is listening and he's aware of you know, people's opinions and just strength, I suppose."
