Australian murderer loses bid to eat Vegemite in prison

A Victorian Supreme Court judge has rejected convicted murderer Andre McKechnie’s bid to overturn a prison ban on Vegemite, ruling that his claim to enjoy Australian culture did not establish a right to eat the spread in jail.

The 54-year-old, who is serving a life sentence for stabbing a property developer to death in Queensland in the 1990s, argued that the ban breached a legal requirement for prisons to provide food that supported inmates’ health and wellbeing. The judge said he had not proved that claim.

The ban has been in place in Victoria since 2006. Corrections Victoria told the court that Vegemite’s strong smell could distract sniffer dogs searching for drugs, while authorities say the spread could also be used to disguise contraband or make alcohol behind bars.

The judge said McKechnie’s “cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment”. McKechnie had argued the restriction denied him the right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian”.

Vegemite is also banned in prisons in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. The spread was invented in Melbourne and first sold in Australia in 1923.