Vegemite Ban Stands: Court Rejects Lifers' Bid to Keep Spread in Prison

A rule barring Vegemite from prisons dates to 2006, and a court in Victoria has now left it in place. Andre McKechnie, 54, lost his challenge to the prohibition on Monday, October 26. The Supreme Court rejected his argument that the ban violated his cultural rights as an Australian.

McKechnie is serving a life sentence for fatally stabbing a property developer in Queensland in the 1990s. He began his sentence in Queensland before being transferred to Victoria. The case was brought against Victoria's Department of Justice and Corrections, the agency that manages the state's prisons.

The judge ruled that McKechnie's "cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment". McKechnie had argued the ban ran afoul of legislation requiring prisons to supply food that supports inmate health and well-being. The court found he had not proven that claim.

Corrections Victoria has defended the prohibition on the grounds that the paste can mask contraband or be used to brew alcohol. During the hearing, the department presented evidence that the smell of Vegemite can interfere with sniffer dogs trained to detect drugs entering a facility. The same ban applies in prisons in Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania.

Vegemite entered Australian shops in 1923 and was developed in Melbourne as a domestic answer to the British product Marmite. The dispute over its availability extends beyond prison walls. In April last year, an Australian cafe owner in Canada was ordered to pull jars of the spread from his shelves for failing to meet local health regulations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese entered that dispute, calling it "rather odd" that Canada permitted the sale of Marmite, which he described as Vegemite's "rubbish" rival. The cafe owner was subsequently permitted to resume selling the product. Vegemite remains unavailable in Victorian cells.