CANBERRA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Thursday that his country will not consider a 'burka ban' despite controversial One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson hinting she will push to introduce such legislation into Parliament next year.
Hanson's push comes in the same week that beleaguered German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her support for a ban on burkas, but Turnbull said Australia would not be following her lead in supporting a similar ban in Australia.
Saying Europe's immigration situation was different to that in Australia, Burnbull told Macquarie Radio that Australia's border protection programs meant potential immigrants were carefully screened before entering Australia and pose no threat to the public.
"Obviously what you're seeing in Europe is the consequences of uncontrolled, irregular migration," Turnbull said on Thursday.
"The Europeans regrettably lost control of their borders and when I was at the UN recently talking to a lot of European leaders they all talked about the way this large-scale irregular migration posed a real threat to their societies, to the stability of their democracies. That is why it is vital for us to maintain the security and integrity of our borders.
"We're a very generous and compassionate nation, we accept a lot of refugees, but the Australian people expect their government and not people-smugglers to decide who comes here."
Turnbull's words come after Hanson applauded the German Chancellor's proposed ban. Hanson posted to social media this week "I honestly don't see how anyone on either side of the house would disagree with (a burka ban) law coming into effect."
