The Prime Minister’s chief of staff has allegedly told a Liberal MP she supports a move to ban the burqa in Parliament House on security grounds, according to a Fairfax report.

The report alleges Peta Credlin told Liberal National MP George Christensen in a private conversation that she was sympathetic to a burqa ban but didn’t want him to inflame community tensions.

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Mr Christensen and Liberal senator Cory Bernardi have both called for the garment to be banned in all public spaces.

In the conversation, Ms Credlin said she supported people’s right to wear the burqa in public, but was sympathetic to the banning of the garment in parliament for safety reasons.

Speaking on Sky News on Wednesday morning, Liberal MP Darren Chester said the conversation was being used as an opportunity to attack Ms Credlin.

“We’re talking about national security; we’re not talking about religion or what people wear,” he said.