Originally Posted by
RadioGirl
Either he also ran into problems with US customs on arrival, or WaPo have got the wrong end of the story. (Maybe both...) Note his actual tweet said he needed "Foreign Ministerial intervention".
It was probably both. At 6:33 in the evening he posted this
Only problem travelling to NY is that they tried to confiscate our Vegemite at the airport. Needed Foreign Ministerial intervention. KRudd
Which was only a couple minutes after he posted what a good meeting he was having in Mexico, so I'm assuming he just got out of his three hour meeting and was at the airport in Mexico waiting for the plane.
The next tweet is at 2:32 am saying
Vegemite Q's. Airport staff were surprised when I said it is good for you & I ate it for breakfast. They then waved me through. KRudd
At no point does he actually say he was hassled in New York, but traveling to New York. The news ran with all different versions of the story, saying it was customs, saying it was security, etc.
It sounds to me like he tweeted after a security in Mexico where the Foreign Minister nodded his head and they let him through, got on the plane, turned off his phone like a good passenger, and when he landed in New York turned it back on and had a bunch of questions about it.
He then answered those questions about how he said it was good for you, which the media probably thought was happened in New York because that's where he was tweeting from.
Based on the tweet timeline, and the fact I can't picture anybody in customs caring about a diplomat bringing it in, I'm betting the entire thing took place in Mexico, and that the stories saying it was customs or New York Airport Security (which he had no purpose in going though on arrival) are just a bit mistaken.