We don't tell Australians what to wear: PM

Malcolm Turnbull doesn't believe Australians should be told what to wear ahead of a Nationals Party debate about banning the burqa.

Nationals MP George Christensen will propose a motion that bans wearing full facial coverings in public, including the burqa and niqab, at the party's federal conference this weekend.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says there's no need for change.

"Obviously, people should have to show their face when they need to, for security or identification purposes," he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW radio on Friday.

"But in Australia we've never had a practice of telling people what they should wear and I don't see that changing."

Nationals MP Keith Pitt backs that position but told reporters in Canberra he had an issue if women were "forced into wearing something else".