Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Rejects The Idea Of A Burqa Ban In His Country
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today (8 December) said his country will not consider a "burqa ban" despite controversial One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson hints on pushing such legislation into Parliament next year, media reported.
Hanson's push came in the same week when German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her support for a ban on burqas, but Turnbull said Australia would not be following her lead in supporting a similar ban in Australia, Xinhua news agency reported.
Saying Europe's immigration situation was different to that in Australia, Turnbull said Australia's border protection programmes meant potential immigrants were carefully screened before entering Australia and pose no threat to the public. The prime minister said:
Obviously what you’re seeing in Europe is the consequences of uncontrolled, irregular migration. We’re a very generous and compassionate nation, we accept a lot of refugees, but the Australian people expect their government and not people-smugglers to decide who comes here.