Australian murderer sues for right to eat Vegemite in maximum-security prison
Prisoner sues over right to eat Vegemite: ‘Enjoy my culture as an Australian’
- A convicted murderer, Andre McKechnie, is challenging a ban on Vegemite in Victorian prisons, taking his case to the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- McKechnie, 54, argues that withholding the yeast-based spread breaches his human right to 'enjoy his culture as an Australian' and that the prison fails to provide adequate food.
- The case, scheduled for trial next year, seeks a court declaration that the ban is unlawful and that the decision should be remade in accordance with the law.
- Victorian prisons banned Vegemite in 2006 because inmates used it to mask the smell of illicit drugs from detection dogs and due to its yeast content, which could be used to produce alcohol.
- Victims of crime advocate John Herron criticised the lawsuit as 'frivolous' and offensive to victims' families, arguing it reinforces a focus on perpetrators over victims.