Thanks to Dumbledore's army for pointing me to this article in ABC Australia. The woman concerned, who looks more like a prizefighter than a modest PHD student says this.
Nada Ibrahim, a Griffith University PhD student, says the veil is an integral part of her identity.
She says she chooses to wear the veil not to satisfy any male influence, but because she believes it is a commandment from God.
"It is actually an obligation that is put in the Koran," she said. "If you go into a chapter called 'the light', God particularly tells us Muslims to cover ourselves, so it's a commandment from God."
A 2007 study in the Journal Of Muslim Minority Affairs revealed that non-Muslims in Australia feel threatened by burqas and headscarfs.
But Ms Ibrahim says this is an ignorant fear.
"It has nothing to do with Muslim men being oppressive and controlling ... nothing to do with terrorism ... it has everything to do with God commanding you to do it," she said. "People don't dig further, they don't say 'hang on a minute, is this really true'.People don't actually ask a Muslim woman if she is oppressed."
She says people find the female Muslim identity confronting because it does not comply with Western societal norms.
"I'm a Muslim woman, I am prepared to wear this and I don't fall into whatever fashion dictates, because at the end of the day I'm not a slave of that - I'm saying no to that. And I'm saying no to a huge cosmetic industry; to a huge fashion industry."
Nada says one of the biggest misconceptions about Muslim women who choose to wear the burqa is a lack of education. People think just because I am covered, my brain is covered," she said. "No, it is not. I have my own thinking brain.
"People think that I don't have my own opinion - they get baffled and taken back when they meet Muslim women with strong careers, strong values, strong opinions, and they think 'that doesn't fit the stereotype that I have in my mind about you'."
Nada says there have been some occasions, since living in Australia, where she has felt discriminated against for choosing to wear a veil.
She says it is a matter of respect.
"Yes, you get a lot of comments about the scarf, but at the end of the day how you carry yourself is what matters," she said.
"But if I'm carrying myself and I'm proud of carrying this veil because it is something of my identity as a person, then people respect you for that."
Nada was born in Kenya, raised in various countries around the world, including Egypt, India and Fiji, completed her undergraduate studies in Malaysia, and has lived in Australia for the last 20 years.
She has a Masters of Education in guidance and counselling, and is currently researching her PhD on intimate partner violence in Muslim communities.  Plenty of scope there.
Meanwhile the Telegraph has this article this morning.
Why the burqa is part of Britain
Imagine this scene at the next State Opening of Parliament. The Queen is standing in front of the assembled Lords and Commons, reading from the speech prepared for her by the Prime Minister. "My Government," she says in that familiar high-pitched but colourless voice, "will ban the burqa. It is not welcome in Britain. In our country we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen." I have a dream - that this comes true.
The sound of jaws dropping would be audible at the Channel ports . . .
If the Queen were to follow suit, it would arouse fury among many of those who feel they should be allowed to practise their religion in whatever way they choose. But it would also raise cheers, not least from some members of the Muslim community. "The French president should be applauded for initiating this debate," Dr Taj Hargey of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford told me yesterday. Dr Hargey describes the growing belief that Muslim women should cover their head, face and hands as "doctrinaire brain-washing".
Ahmed Versi, editor of the Muslim News, published in Britain (says)
"Britain is the best country in Europe for Muslims. We complain, but we are freer here, and we have more dialogue with government. In France, Muslim organisations are not representative; here they are independent. In France, Muslims live in ghettos and have double the unemployment rate of the rest of the population. Many French women come to university in the UK because they want to study and wear the headscarf which in France they cannot."
"In fact," he concludes, "the UK is heaven compared to France."
If it takes a foreign politician to prompt a Muslim to articulate that view, there is something to be said for an attack on the burqa.
The comments are mostly in favour of a ban. As there are already plenty of unpopular bans on respectable people going about their legal activities (for example in todays Times. A glass of wine with your picnic? It's against the law) I really don't see why the call for this particular ban, which is supported by all but the minority who benefit from it should be so rejected.