Source : Perth Now news
A convicted murderer has lost a legal fight to overturn a ban on Vegemite in Victoria’s prisons.
Andre McKechnie, who is behind bars at Barwon Prison, argued that banning Vegemite was unlawful because it denied him his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian”.
Corrections Victoria argued Vegemite, which has been banned since about 2006, could be used to make alcohol and could also hinder sniffer dogs trying to detect contraband.
Supreme Court judge Claire Harris found that Vegemite might be regarded as part of Australian culture but McKechnie’s cultural rights were limited, because he was a prisoner.
“Vegemite is a food that may be regarded as part of an Australian culture in that it is a food strongly and traditionally associated with people of Australian background,” her 50-page judgment, released on Monday, read.
“Mr McKechnie’s cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact that he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
“The limitation of Mr McKechnie’s right to acquire and consume Vegemite imposed by the prohibition and the decision is … a reasonable limitation.”
Justice Harris said the Corrections Act, which requires prisons to provide food to maintain the health of inmates, did “not extend to an obligation to provide to prisoners foods of cultural significance to enhance their wellbeing”.
“Mr McKechnie has failed to establish any of the grounds of judicial review,” she said.
Mr McKechnie, who represented himself, gave evidence that from his earliest memories Vegemite had been a food that he associated with family, his family home and Australia.
“I consider Vegemite and my consumption of Vegemite an integral part of the practice of my Australian culture,” he said.
“Without being able to consume Vegemite I feel deprived of being able to practice my Australian culture, sad and disconnected from my family and community.”
McKechnie was sentenced in the Queensland Supreme Court to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering land developer Otto Kuhne in 1994.
He was later transferred to Victoria.
