Explain Why The Burqa Should Be Banned In Australia
1750 Words7 Pages
Recently, it has been argued that facial coverings, such as the niqab and burqa worn by some Muslim women, should be banned from public places in Australia. Australia prides itself as a multicultural nation, supporting the rights of all cultures to practice and maintain their traditions within the law. Australia’s multicultural policy has attempted to enhance respect and support for cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, embracing our different values and cultural traditions, free from discrimination. However, the current issue of the “burqa ban” in Australia has been criticised as discriminatory and a violation and restriction of one’s rights to freedom of religion, conscience and expression of faith.
In Australia, the main proponent of the ban has centred on security and public order concerns. Senator Cory Bernadi argues that the burqa also poses a less tangible risk to the community, as it “isolates some Australians from others”, rendering the burqa as “un-Australian”. By banning the burqa, Muslim women will not feel liberated from their supposed “oppression” and will not…show more content… Australia, unlike the United States, has no constitutional or statutory bill of rights that applies across the whole nation. The Australian Constitution gives the Commonwealth power to make laws with respect to “external affairs”, ratifying Australia’s support for a number of international instruments in the area of human rights. The Commonwealth has enacted various laws to help give effect to the provisions of the ICCPR and the Religion Declaration. Relevant Commonwealth laws including the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, provide some limited protection against discrimination on the basis of religion or