A convicted murderer in Australia has lost his legal battle to be allowed Vegemite in prison, the BBC reported. The salty, yeast-based spread is so widely loved in Australia that it has become a national symbol.
Andre McKechnie, 54, is serving a life sentence for stabbing a property developer to death in Queensland in the 1990s. He served part of his sentence in Queensland before being moved to a prison in Victoria. He argued that the state's ban on Vegemite, in place since 2006, denied him the right to "enjoy his culture as an Australian".
What the court said
On Monday, a judge of Victoria's Supreme Court rejected his appeal. The judge said the prisoner's "cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment".
McKechnie had also argued that the ban broke a law requiring prisons to give inmates food that keeps them healthy and well. The judge said that had not been proven.
Why prisons ban it
McKechnie had sued Victoria's Department of Justice and Corrections, which runs the state's prisons. Its prisons service told the court that the smell of Vegemite can confuse sniffer dogs searching for drugs being smuggled in, and that inmates could use the paste to hide contraband or brew alcohol. Jails in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania also ban it.
A spread that keeps making news
Vegemite was invented in Melbourne in 1923 as an alternative to the British spread Marmite. In April last year it was at the centre of a dispute with Canada, where an Australian café owner was told to take jars off his shelves because they did not meet local health rules. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was "rather odd" that Canada allowed Marmite, which he called a "rubbish" rival. The café was later allowed to keep selling Vegemite.