JKUU,

"....Thus, if islamic women view wearing a veil as an expression of their religion, they are protected by while doing so....".

The wearing of a veil or full covering is not a religious requirement in Islam, so banning such covering is not interfering with religious rights.
The Government would be within its rights in declaring Islam to be a political movement and not a religion, thus doing away with the problem of people wearing disguises in public.

Some one mentioned the Hindu Sadhus going unclothed, this is not a Hindu religious requirement so any Hindu inclined to bare all at Circular Quay would be arrested.
That would not be an infringement of religious freedom.

Gaudium, if you believe these statistics then partner violence and sexual assault are concentrated in certain demographic "clusters" and there's a pretty simple explanation for the "epidemic" of violence against women, 84% of victims appear to be overseas born.
Mail order brides and arranged marriages? Or alternatively allegations of domestic abuse can be used to speed up visa processing and a lot of women appearing at shelters and support services are non residents.
Domestic violence: how taboos veil the truth
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/domestic-violence-how-taboos-veil-the-truth-20150126-12umej.html
"The latest ABS Personal Safety Survey breaks down the figures by gender, age group, state and disability, but not by ethnicity or religion. Of the 27.4 per cent of all Australians who experienced sexual assault in last 12 months, 41.7 per cent were born overseas and were English-speaking, 36.6 per cent were born overseas but spoke other languages, the rest were Australian-born, so ethnicity and cultural factors seem to be significant.

The background of sexual assault victims is also hard to unpack – Australia 16.2 per cent in last 12 months, 3 per cent since age 15; Overseas (English-speaking 41.7 per cent in last 12 months, 7.5 per cent since age 15; other languages 36.6 per cent in last 12 months, 10.9 per cent since age 15)."

Let the burqa wearer be,
So her face we cannot see.
Only those who seek to lie
Hide their faces from our eye.

To speak with fairness, it's a must
To show your face, it's only just.
If you hide that truth from me,
I don't wish to speak with thee.

Why do you sneer at what someone wears
Why do you abuse them - and even care
They do not judge you and your life
Why are you bent on causing strife?

Are your beliefs so set in stone
That you want others simply gone?
Can't we try for love and peace
Can't we make this hatred cease?

Tito, Foxy,

I wrote this above:
"Back to the topic at hand. Is petty dialogue on "banning the Burqa" the best discussion we can muster on Islam? It brings out two extremes: the bogan bigots and the nonsensical egalitarians - neither offer anything of substance and are clueless on the geopolitics which shape the reason why Islam has become the focus of our attention in the first place".

I'm not placing either under the pejorative titles, but see my point?

When I look at the burqa and then look at the young females with great big fat thighs, big boobs flopping around, half a bum crack showing, terribly overweight but wearing the skimpiest of clothes, the burqa in my opinion has a lot going for it