Clive Palmer coy on national burqa debate

Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer has sidestepped an opportunity to back his senator Jacqui Lambie's controversial stance on the burqa.

Ms Lambie wants the religious attire banned in public on the grounds it presents a security risk by concealing a person's identity.

Mr Palmer, whose Sunshine Coast electorate includes "about a thousand" Muslims, refused on Friday to say whether he backed Senator Lambie but expressed support for religious freedom.

"These are the sorts of social issues I don't get involved in very much," he told reporters in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he finds burqas confronting and wishes they weren't worn.

But Mr Palmer distanced himself from that view.

"Well, it's hard to be confronted by women, they're friendly people," he said.

"You've got to look at them that way. We don't want divisions in society, we want more love."