Read the excerpt from the article you quoted from the bottom up. It's then apparent that Tony Abbott is yet again all at sea and all over the place, tampering with matters in which he is blinded by his religion. Well even George Brandis can see that insensitive outbursts and targeted discrimination inflame community prejudice, hatred and conflict.
"... The two backbenchers argue that a ban on burqas is necessary for security purposes. So if they are so concerned about security, where are all their other proposals for better security? They have none.
They are not interested in security. They are only interested in fanning prejudice.
Abbott has implicitly endorsed their dirty, divisive dogwhistle politics to appease them. Instead of winking at their intolerance, a real leader would have shut them down in a moment of crisis.
He would have done well to heed the words of his own Attorney-General, George Brandis, who told the National Press Club on Wednesday that, in the face of a rising risk of terrorism, "there could be no greater error than for Australians to demonise our fellow Islamic citizens".
Australia's social cohesion is at risk. The Prime Minister's responsibility is not to play with it but to protect it. ..."
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tony-abbotts-cavein-to-divisive-policy-of-backbenchers-a-failure-of-leadership-20141001-10opbv.html#ixzz3EtbVezOS
