“Am I to understand that there is to be a burqa box now?”
Australia's Parliament House has brought in new rules that will see people with "facial coverings" made to sit behind glass to view proceedings.
Torsten Blackwood / AFP
The new rule says people with "facial coverings" will now sit in enclosed galleries to watch parliament - which are areas in the building where school children watch behind glass and under guard.
"This will ensure that persons with facial coverings can continue to enter the Chamber galleries, without needing to be identifiable."
A spokeswoman for Parliament House told BuzzFeed that both women wearing burqas and niqabs would likely be targeted by the new rules, but "it's not religious, it's about any veil".
