But Mr Baird went to great lengths on Thursday to avoid criticising his friend and political ally, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who had described women in Islamic veils as "confronting".

"It's not something that I would entertain in any way," the Premier told Fairfax Media-owned 2UE radio this morning. Mr Baird said he supported giving security agencies the power to run checks on people's identities when needed.

But at a later press conference, Mr Baird refused to answer questions about whether the Prime Minister's remarks were divisive.

"The Prime Minister didn't think governments should tell people what they should be wearing," Mr Baird said, using a similar formulation to answer six consecutive questions on the topic.

But it was another aspect of the Prime Minister's public statement to which reporters were seeking a response, in which he said the Islamic veil was a "fairly confronting form of attire and, frankly, I wish it weren't worn".

The federal Parliament will seek security advice before deciding whether to proceed with a ban.

Those on the other side of NSW politics have been forthcoming with their views.

Mehreen Faruqi, a Greens Member of the Legislative Council,  and the first Muslim woman to enter an Australian parliament, said: "These proposals are about racist dog-whistling and attempts to fracture our multicultural community. Sadly, it has already green-lighted racist violence against Muslims across the country.

"As usual, it is women who bear the brunt of these racist attacks, brought on by a patronising attempt to 'liberate' them."

Under laws introduced to the NSW Parliament three years ago, police, parole officers and officers of the court have the power to compel women to lift their veils to identify them, even if they are not suspected of a serious criminal offence.

Officers must first ask for a woman's co-operation and must view someone's face in a way that protects their privacy, if they request it.

Failure to comply with the law brings a fine of $220, or more than $5000 and a maximum 12 months' imprisonment if they are driving a car suspected to have been involved in a criminal offence.

A report by the NSW Ombudsman found that police only needed to invoke their new powers eight times more than a year after the law was passed, with women complying with police instructions in every instance.

Veils must also be lifted for government-issued identification documents, including passports and driver's licences.

The law was prompted following a 2011 controversy involving Carnita Matthews, a Muslim woman who alleged a policeman had forced her to lift her head-dress during a traffic stop.

A court later reviewed video footage and found that complaint to have been made falsely.

But Ms Matthews, who pleaded not guilty, escaped punishment when  a judge quashed her conviction.

As Ms Matthews was never asked to remove her veil when submitting the complaint to police, she was never satisfactorily identified, a judge found.

The Islamic Council of NSW says that a Muslim woman is permitted by Islam to remove her face covering in the presence of a male officer for the purposes of identification.