There’s no human right to Vegemite, court tells Australian prisoner who wanted ban overturned
Prohibition of salty, yeast-based condiment in Victoria’s prisons remains after convicted murderer claimed it denied him right to ‘enjoy his culture’ Follow our Australia politics live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A murderer who claimed a refusal to allow him Vegemite in prison is a breach of his human rights as an Australian has failed to…
Andre McKechnie, a convicted murderer, failed in his attempt to overturn a ban on Vegemite in Australian prisons. The prisoner claimed that the prohibition denied him the right to enjoy his Australian culture. However, the state's supreme court dismissed his case, finding no infringement of his human rights under the Corrections Act or the human rights charter.
Justice Claire Harris upheld the ban, stating that it was a proportionate measure to manage, secure, and maintain good order within prisons. The court acknowledged that Vegemite could be seen as part of Australian culture, but the prohibition was justified by the prison authorities' obligations. McKechnie was transferred to a Victorian prison 10 years into a life sentence for the 1983 murder of Otto Kuhne.
Vegemite, originally created in Melbourne in 1923, remains a polarizing spread in Australian households.
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