Good morning cerhob!
As with so many other matters charged with racial, religious and cultural overtones that he has mishandled; Tony Abbott has grossly mismanaged and therefore inflamed this one. His miserable leadership preference for WIN-LOSE outcomes and his resort to divide and conquer processes have again caused massive community damage.
Abbott is turning Australians against each other and thereby placing our pseudo-democracy at significantly increased risk. He's even driving wedges through his very own party, as detailed by James Massola's article in The Age online today:
"Tony Abbott expresses support for parliamentary burqa ban, but colleagues do not"
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...an-but-colleagues-do-not-20141001-10oqqb.html