It didn't take long for the first fine to be dished out by French Police for a women wearing a burqa in public.

French police issue first fine for Islamic veil ban
Herald Sun, 13th April 2011

"French police have fined a woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in the first reported enforcement of a ban on the garment on the day it came into effect.

The woman, born in 1983, was fined 150 euros ($A206) "without incident" at a shopping centre in Mureaux, northwest of Paris, early on Monday evening, a police source said without elaborating on exactly what she was wearing.

On Tuesday, officers in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis said they asked a woman to remove her veil and when she refused they took her to a nearby police station.

There she removed the niqab and was released after being given a written reminder that full-face veils were no longer permitted in public.

France on Monday became the first country in Europe to apply a ban on the wearing of full-face coverings, including the Islamic niqab...."

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The debate regarding whether the burqa should be banned has reached our shores with conservative state MPs Fred Nile and Cory Bernardi calling for this Islamic veil to be banned in Australia. Do you believe that any face coverings should be banned? What are some prime considerations in this debate? Have your say on our forum.