Excerpt:
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says her government will not support a ban on the burqa, the head and body veil worn by some Muslim women, because "such a ban has no place in multicultural NSW".
Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile had called on both major parties to allow members a conscience vote on his private member's bill, which was introduced into Parliament in June.
Mr Nile wants NSW to follow a growing number of European countries trying to ban women from wearing in public the burqa and the niqab, a veil with a narrow opening for the eyes.