Simon Corbell has announced he’s bringing new laws into the Legislative Assembly to allow police to make people take head coverings off.
He’s trying really hard to not make this about muslim women wearing the burqa:
“It is very important to note that this is in no way an attempt to ban head coverings of a particular culture or religious group, but rather is a law to allow legitimate enforcement activities that are essential for road safety.”
The amendments include provisions to enable people who have cultural or religious concerns about uncovering their face in public or in front of a male police officer or authorised road transport official to request that they uncover their face only in front of a female police officer or female official. These provisions also ensure that if requested, reasonable privacy is provided while the person?s face is uncovered.
Mr Corbell said the laws also ensured that if part or most of the person?s face was covered by something that was necessary for the person?s medical treatment, the person is not required to remove that item.
“After consulting with the Islamic community, via the ACT Muslim Consultative Council, information on the proposed laws has been translated into Arabic for wider circulation within the Islamic community. The Human Rights Commission was also consulted on the proposed laws. These groups did not express concerns during this consultation process about the new laws.”