It is understood that, following heavy criticism, the prime minister will ask for a rethink of plan to segregate those with face coverings

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Tony Abbott will ask the Australian parliament’s presiding officers to reconsider a controversial decision to force visitors with facial coverings to sit in a separate glassed area of the public galleries.

Guardian Australia understands the prime minister will suggest a rethink of the gallery exclusion, which had been described by critics as a divisive move at a time of heightened community tensions.

Fairfax Media, which first reported Abbott’s intervention on Thursday night, said the prime minister had told colleagues he was relaxed about facial covering being worn once visitors had been screened at the entry points to the building.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, accused Abbott of “following his party instead of leading it” and allowing “this divisive debate” to drag on for too long.

“If we’re asking our troops to stand up to sectarianism, intolerance and prejudice overseas, we should be prepared to do the same in our parliament,” Shorten said.

“Leaders have a responsibility to act for minorities as well as majorities. People shouldn’t be segregated to attend parliament.”

Although the term burqa has been commonly used in the context of the issue, the ban would apply to a range of face coverings, including the niqab.

Shorten had earlier demanded an explanation over the interim security decision, saying he was “not sure why a person needs to be kept behind glass once they’ve been identified and security screened” on entry.

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) said in a circular to parliamentarians and staff on Thursday afternoon that “persons with facial coverings entering the galleries of the House of Representatives and Senate will be seated in the enclosed galleries,” which are behind glass panels.

These elevated, shielded areas are where school groups often sit.

“This will ensure that persons with facial coverings can continue to enter the chamber galleries, without needing to be identifiable,” the DPS said.

Bronwyn Bishop, the speaker of the house, and Stephen Parry, the president of the Senate, approved the immediate changes “in light of the increased threat environment”.

Parry said it was an interim decision which would apply “until we get a firm set of advice from some key agencies” including the Australian federal police and the intelligence agency Asio.

“If people don’t wish to be readily identified in the galleries of each chamber they may use the galleries that are fully enclosed in glass,” he told the Senate earlier on Thursday.

“One of the key reasons for this is that if there is an incident or if someone is interjecting from the gallery, which as senators would know happens from time to time, they need to be identified quickly and easily so they can be removed from that interjection. Or if they are asked to be removed from the gallery we need to know who that person is so they can’t return to the gallery, disguised or otherwise.”

The Queensland Liberal National party MP George Christensen, one of several government members who had been pushing for a burqa ban at parliament house, questioned whether Bishop and Parry would back down.

“For lovers of women’s faces being covered, don’t get ur hopes up on a backdown. Presiding Officers’ rulings aren’t subject to any PM veto,” Christensen tweeted.

The Greens senator Richard Di Natale and the independent MP Andrew Wilkie likened the decision to a form of “apartheid”.

The human rights commissioner, Tim Wilson, said there was “no justification for undermining religious freedom” when people had already passed through parliament’s security checkpoints.

Tim Soutphommasane, the race discrimination commissioner, agreed. “No one should be treated like a second-class citizen, not least in their own parliament,” he said.

The chief executive of the Arab Council of Australia, Randa Kattan, said the “absolutely outrageous” measure targeted Muslim women.

Maha Abdo, the head of the United Women Muslim Association, said the rule change sent a message that “this piece of cloth, or Muslim women’s clothing, is associated with terror and security threat”.

Labor’s finance spokesman, Tony Burke, told parliament on Thursday all MPs must play a leadership role in promoting social cohesion, noting that Islamic community members had received abuse and death threats.

Abbott said on Wednesday he found the burqa confronting but it was a free country, although he suggested identity was a security issue at Parliament House.

“Look, could I caution people about making mountains out of molehills,” he said when pressed about the Parliament House issue of Wednesday.

“Has anyone ever sought entry to this building so attired? As far as I am aware, no. And making a big song and dance about a hypothetical, I am not sure is particularly helpful but I just want to stress that this is a secure building and it should be governed by the rules that are appropriate for a secure building and obviously people need to be identifiable in a secure building such as this.”