By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney 07 May 2010
An Australian senator has called the burka “un-Australian” and said it should be banned, sparking anger among the country’s Muslim community.
 Cory Bernardi, a Liberal from South Australia, complained that the full Islamic veil was a “repressive domination of men over women” and established “different sets and expectations in society”.
Writing on his blog following an armed robbery in Sydney by a man wearing a burka and sunglasses, he said: “It is un-Australian – and its symbolic barrier is far greater than the measure of cloth it is created from. For safety and for society, the burka needs to be banned.”
Sen Bernardi complained that the veil was “emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and n’er do wells” and that Muslims migrating to Australia must learn to adopt local values.
If men wearing motorcycle helmets had to remove them in banks and businesses, then the burka should be taken off too, he argued.
His comments come days after Belgium’s lower house of parliament approved a draft law to ban wearing the full Islamic face veil in public. France, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe, is set to examine a similar draft bill this month, despite angry protests.
Tony Abbott, the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, stopped short of supporting a ban on burkas, but said that most Australians found the garment “confronting”.“I’d prefer it wasn’t widely worn, but I’m not proposing to ban it,” Mr Abbott said.
Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, has accused the Liberals of a cynical political stunt, while Muslim groups in Australia have condemned talk of a ban.
Muhammad Dahir from the Islamic Association of Australia said women should be free to choose to wear the burka if they wanted to.
“We don’t want any politician to bring religion into the political arena. To me it’s brings a lot of problems and tension to the community. [The majority of Muslims] are living peacefully, we don’t have problems,” he told the ABC.
“I’m very happy the Opposition Leader came forward and said he has no policy to ban burka and that’s what leaders should do – condemn this kind of statement. We need to unite the community, not divide it.”
Earlier this week, Italian authorities fined a Muslim woman 500 euros (£430) for wearing a burka in public under anti-terrorism laws. The Tunisian woman was stopped on the street by police in the city of Novara, which is a stronghold of the anti-immigration Northern League.Â
I believe that Burkas are not a part of our Australian Culture or society. Australia was founded on Christianity, which stands for freedom from Spiritual oppression and the equality of men and women socially and Spiritally.
Australia is called a Christian country though many within our society would like to disinherit us from our Christian Heritage. I for one do not want to see Australia lose her identity or Australians become so cultually confused that they no longer know what their culture consists of.
As a Christian I am proud to be an Australian, I am proud of what we fought for in both the first and second World Wars; I am thankfull to our Lord Jesus Christ that He used 800 Australian Light Horsemen to free Israel from centuries of muslim rule in 1917.
I am greatfull that a Christian man named Pedro Fernandez de Quiros in 1606 gave us the very name we call our country, Australia (South land) He called this Country ” La Australia del Espiritu Santo” or literally “Southland of the Holy Spirit” and he took possession of the land in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was followed by fire works, ships’ cannons blasting and musket fire. Then de Quiros and his men shouted with joy: “long live the Faith of Christ”
Our land of Australia is the only land I know of that has been named after God Himself and dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our heritage, this is our beginnings. We were not dedicated to Budha, Krishna or the Muslim God. We are not of Middle east Heritage or customs. We stand for Freedom not Bondage, equality not graded levels of human society, a fair go for all and saying it like it is (speaking the truth as we see it) This is our Culture which has been built on Christian teachings.
Do we want to see our streets dotted with the depressing images of women dressed in long black gowns and hooded head dress, some with not even a slit in the head gear to reveal that there is a human being consealed within? Do we want to be reminded of the Middle Eastern cultural injustices (that we can do nothing about) every time we go into a shopping center or market place ? I don’t. Every time I see a “woman” in a burka I feel uncompfortable and disheartened in spitit.
Now is the time to take a stand for our society our culture and what offends we Australians of Christian Heritage. Muslims are the first to cry out for what offends them. If we don’t start by saying ‘NO’ to burkas soon, soon ‘they’ will be saying ‘NO’ to us in no uncertain terms. We need to preserve our Australian way of life our culture and our Heritage, SAY NO!
I totally agree yesterday I walked into the gym and as I entered the foyer I was confronted by a Muslim woman completely covered and it really scared me as I am very friendly bur there was no smile to greet me it really schocked me. It makes it very hard now for Australian woman who are strong and do not need to be dominated by men we are all equal. To finish she actually really. scared me .