BURQAS

Ms FOX (Bright) (15:21): I notice, with some interest, that the member for Fisher has brought up the issue of the burqa in South Australia. You may ask yourself: why is this of interest to the people of Bright? Well, it is not. In fact, it is of no interest to the people of Bright or, indeed, the people of South Australia, because, as far as I know, not one Muslim woman in this state is currently wearing a burqa.

Ms CHAPMAN: I rise on a point of order. I do not doubt that this is a very important issue, but this is an issue which is the subject of a private member's bill before the parliament, and therefore I ask that the member move on to another subject.

The SPEAKER: I wondered about that myself, when the member started to speak, but I do not believe that bill has been introduced. Yes, the bill has not been introduced. The member has spoken about it publicly but he has not actually introduced a bill.

Ms FOX: I thank the member for Bragg for that, and it was a question that I asked myself, but apparently I can talk about this until such time as he puts it on the Notice Paper. Nevertheless, the member for Fisher has decided to make this an issue. Perhaps inspired by the federal Liberal Party's own Barnaby Joyce, Senator Cory Bernardi, the member for Fisher is going to come into this place—from what I understand in the media—and spend time and taxpayers' money debating an issue that was, until he raised it, not an issue at all.

As all keen followers of French politics would know, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been grandstanding on this issue since the beginning of the year, and he proposes a ban on the wearing of the burqa in shops, markets, public institutions and, indeed, even in the streets. Mr Sarkozy seeks to impose his own values on these women, much as Senator Cory Bernardi did. It is ironic that in the same way that these political men accuse the Muslim partners of such women of oppressing their human rights—a point which is certainly debatable—they, in turn, seek to rob Muslim women of their own choices. Do not get me wrong; I am not that keen on the burqa, and I always feel a sense of pity and curiosity about the women underneath their voluminous folds, but I also recognise that my reaction is really imposing my own narrow values on those people, and I would certainly not seek to codify that vague kneejerk reaction into legislation.

Even the ultimate administrative authority in France, the State Council (the Etat de Conseil), has warned that the full ban on the burqa will probably be declared unconstitutional. Human Rights Watch, an outstanding organisation, points out that this law will probably confine more women to their homes, because for some Muslim women the burqa is actually viewed as a liberating garment. I cannot see it myself, but apparently it is. President Sarkozy maintains that the burqa 'suppresses women's identities and turns them into prisoners behind a screen'. Of course, the 2,000 women in France who do wear the burqa—and I would point out 2,000 women out of a Muslim population of six million, out of a population of over 60 million, so we are talking about a tiny part of the population—would argue that, in being liberated from the male gaze, they are becoming empowered.

Before I end, I would like to point out one rather nasty story that occurred very recently in France as a result of this debate. This debate brings up racial tensions that did not exist until the debate arose. This is what happened in a town called Trignac near a place called Nantes. Two women were walking down the street: one of them was a 60 year old lawyer and one of them was a 26 year old woman in a burqa. The 60 year old lawyer, who was very left wing and outraged by the fact that her sister was being oppressed by these garments, started making snide remarks about the fact that this woman was wearing a burqa. They entered the same clothing store, the snide remarks were responded to and, in the end, there was an attack of burqa rage. Yes, the 60 year old lawyer tore the burqa off the 26 year old woman, and both of them were arrested as a result.

It is precisely the kind of incident which we do not want to see occurring in South Australia and which we have not seen. The former minister assisting in multicultural affairs (Hon. Carmel Zollo) had an excellent relationship with the Muslim women of this state, as does current minister Grace Portolesi. Those excellent relationships should be maintained and I really feel very sorry that the member for Fisher felt he had to raise this at all. If he has to, perhaps he could look at the Belgium example, where in Belgium, at the end of March, the government endorsed a nationwide ban on clothes that do not allow the wearer to be fully identified. In this way, we do not discuss race, religion and gender.