In recent months there has been proposals made by certain  individuals in Australia  to introduce a ban of the face veil otherwise known as the burqa or niqab.

The Islamic Council of Victoria is completely opposed to a ban of the burqa/niqab.  It views any ban of items of clothing as an infringement on human rights.

Advocates of a ban of the burqa/niqab assert the face covering poses a security risk.

Some of the ban advocates have clearly stated emotive and discriminatory reasons for a ban such as 'it is not part of our culture and tradition' (Fred Nile quoted from the Daily Telegraph, 14 May 2010). To model a law on prejudice actually goes against Australia's values of tolerance and freedom of choice/expression. It is people like Fred Nile who don't understand Australian values and society.

The former prime minister Kevin Rudd stated publicly that not one law enforcement agency has presented any advice to his department indicating the burqa/niqab poses a security risk.

Commonwealth spokesperson Steve Batten said it had no issue with customers wearing a burqa inside its banks.

"We don't discriminate against customers based on their religious preference. If they choose to wear a burqa or religious head-dress, we do not ask them to remove it," he said.

Media spokesperson for the ICV Sherene Hassan has conducted many interviews with various media outlets publicly stating the ICV's opposition to a burqa ban.

In addition ICV executive committee member Nazeem Hussain raised the following points on the matter:

Regarding   the "Burqa ban bill" - the proper name is the "Summary Offences Amendment (Full-face Coverings Prohibition) Bill 2010" (NSW).

Here is some further information.

1. Rev Fred Nile is in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament (the Legislative Council). He is a member of the Christian Democratic Party. Here is some further information about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Nile

http://www.cdp.org.au/

The Legislative Council is the Upper House in the NSW system of government and is often referred to as a House of Review (it is called the Senate in the Commonwealth system).

The Council has similar powers to the Legislative Assembly (Lower House), but it has limitations in respect to some financial bills. As a House of Review the Legislative Council plays an important role in the scrutiny of laws for the good government of NSW.

It is not common for a Bill, such as the Burqa Ban bill, to be introduced in the Upper House - normally it is done from the Legislative Assembly (the Lower House).

2. What does the Burqa ban bill say:

The object of this Bill is to make it an offence (maximum penalty of $550) for a person, without reasonable excuse, to wear a face covering while in a public place. A face covering is defined as any article of clothing or other thing (such as a helmet)
that hides the face of a person in a way that conceals the person’s identity. The Bill provides that a person’s religious or cultural belief does not constitute a reasonable excuse for the purposes of the proposed offence. The prohibition does not extend to
the wearing of face coverings in churches or other places of worship. The Bill also makes it an offence (maximum penalty of $1,100) to compel another person, by means of a threat, to commit the proposed offence of wearing a face covering in a public place.

It is a reasonable excuse for the purposes of the Bill if the wearing of the face covering is reasonably necessary in all the circumstances for any of the following purposes:
(a) the lawful pursuit of the person’s occupation,
(b) participation in a lawful entertainment, recreation or sport,
(c) such other purposes as may be prescribed by the regulations.

3. What can you do:

Contact the other members of the NSW Upper House, and lobby them to vote against the bill. Here are their contact details: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/V3ListCurrentMembers

Note that AFIC (Muslims Australia), through Br Ikebal Patel (the President) is contacting each member of the NSW Parliament.