A convict serving a life term for a homicide offense is contesting a ban on Vegemite, arguing in a legal action that the prohibition infringes on his human rights.
Andre McKechnie, aged 54, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994 for the killing of Otto Kuhne, a prosperous property developer from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Over the past three decades, he has been confined at the high-security Port Phillip Prison in Truganina, Victoria.
Due to his detention in Victoria, McKechnie has been deprived of Vegemite, a yeast-based spread prohibited in all 12 prisons of the state. He has initiated a lawsuit asserting his human right to “embrace his Australian heritage” has been violated.
According to disclosed documents, McKechnie is suing the Department of Justice and Community Safety of Victoria and Corrections Victoria. He is set to present his case in court next year, 30 years after the ban on Vegemite was imposed in 2006.
He is requesting a court ruling stating that the prison system has denied him his entitlement under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to “celebrate his Australian heritage.” His argument revolves around a section of the act that ensures individuals with specific cultural, religious, racial, or linguistic backgrounds the right to “embrace their culture, practice their religion, and use their language.” Additionally, the inmate seeks a declaration that the prison failed to provide adequate food to meet his dietary requirements, thus contravening the Corrections Act.
Vegemite was barred in the early 2000s by Corrections Victoria after it was discovered that the substance interfered with the detection capabilities of narcotic dogs.
Inmates used to coat illicit drug packages with Vegemite hoping to divert the dogs’ attention from the contraband. While the Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria refrained from commenting on the matter, relatives of crime victims have expressed strong opposition to McKechnie’s legal action.
John Herron, a lawyer advocating for crime victims, including his daughter Courtney Herron who was fatally assaulted in a Melbourne park in 2019, criticized McKechnie’s bid, arguing that it undermines the rights of victims and considers spreads like Vegemite as an unnecessary privilege.
Herron emphasized that victims often lack rights and sufficient support, with the focus primarily on the offender. He stressed that the issue is not about Vegemite or similar products but about an additional privilege that reminds victims of the tragedies they have endured.