Parents face jail and $34,000 fines under Jacqui Lambie's burqa ban proposal

Latika Bourke National political reporter

Muslim parents would be fined tens of thousands of dollars and face jail if they make their teenage girls wear the burqa as part of Palmer United senator Jacqui Lambie's bid to outlaw the headwear in Australia, despite a Parliamentary research paper warning her proposed laws would likely be struck down by the High Court.

PUP leader Clive Palmer again distanced himself from his maverick senator on Tuesday and told the media Ms Lambie had not put her draft bill to the party and he had no idea what it contained.

Senator Lambie released her draft legislation to the media in a statement and claimed "once again our enemies will laugh at us" if the Parliament did not pass her bill. 

In the unlikely event that the proposal is passed by Parliament and is upheld by the High Court, the Tasmanian senator would create two further offences that would see a person jailed for up to 12 months and fined $34,000 if they were found to have forced a woman or young girl to wear the burqa.She said "Any person who is deemed by a police officer to have worn any identity-concealing garments in public unlawfully will be issued with an on-the-spot [maximum] fine of $34,000," if her bill is passed. 

A Parliamentary Library research paper, which Senator Lambie requested and released to the media, includes the expert view of Professor Anthony Gray, who says "a law prohibiting a person from appearing in public whilst their face was covered would be difficult to justify".

Constitutional lawyers have previously told Fairfax Media a ban on the burqa would very likely violate section 116 of the constitution.

But Senator Lambie insisted the burqa was not a form of religious expression. "If you're talking about wearing the burqa it's not a religious item. If you read the Koran, it's not in the Koran," she told reporters on her way into Parliament.

Mr Palmer refused to say on Monday if Senator Lambie's bill was authorised by the PUP.  

"I haven't seen it, I don't know what you're talking about ... I haven't seen anything about it, I havent heard anything about it, I would have to know about it before I could comment on it ... I wouldn't comment on it until I saw the legislation," he said. 

Mr Palmer has previously said only he as leader announces party policy in an attempt to hose down Senator Lambie's more strident comments on the burqa and Islamic law which she has claimed "involves terrorism".

Senator Lambie's draft legislation comes just a day after three men wearing a niqab, Ku Klux Klan hat and motorcycle helmet attempted to enter Parliament to protest against the burqa being allowed in the building. All three men were forced to remove their headcoverings.  

Parliament's presiding officers recently backed down from a plan to force anyone in a niqab or burqa to sit in glass cages to watch question time. The interim order was issued to try and head off a rumoured protest which never eventuated. But it sparked a backlash because it came just days after the Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi requested the headwear be banned from Parliament.

A new ruling will see any Muslim woman asked to lift her veil for an identity check during normal screening. She would be allowed to cover her face while visiting Parliament's public areas. It is believed that there have been very few cases where Muslim women have attempted to wear burqas into Federal Parliament.  

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/parents-face-jail-and-34000-fines-under-jacqui-lambies-burqa-ban-proposal-20141028-11cyzr.html#ixzz3HQjRc3Ib