Slow Saturday Special: Veiled Threat in Australia

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"Australian premier urges review of seating rule for women in veils" October 04, 2014

SYDNEY — Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia asked the speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday to reconsider a decision to make women who wear face-covering veils sit in segregated areas of Parliament’s public galleries.

The Department of Parliamentary Services issued a statement Thursday saying that “persons with facial coverings” entering the House of Representatives and the Senate would be “seated in the enclosed galleries.”

“This will ensure that persons with facial coverings can continue to enter the chamber galleries without needing to be identifiable,” the statement said.

The speaker of the House, Bronwyn Bishop, and the president of the Senate, Stephen Parry, made the decision jointly, and the statement was issued “in light of the increased threat environment.” The government raised the terrorism alert level to high Sept. 12.

Abbott said he had asked Bishop to reconsider.

“In public areas of this building, people ought to be allowed to wear what they want,” Abbott said. “In secure areas of this building, obviously people need to be identifiable, and that normally includes having your face visible.”

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