Vegemite OK. Why not peanut butter?
 

Did they let the Vegemite through because of who he is or because something that consistency is alright?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...0dK_story.html

Guessing that since it was in New York and he was coming to New York to speak, he ran into the issue with customs and not the TSA. They would have let peanut butter through customs too.

I would guess they had no clue what the stuff was he was carrying.

They let it through because you aren't going to tell a foreign diplomat they can't board an airplane. Rudd could have punched the clerk in the face and the police couldn't have done a thing. That's hyperbolic, but also true.

That said, if someone had some issue with a lack of B vitamins, it could be considered a medical requirement

because of who he is. my vegemite was confiscated despite the clerk having no idea what it was.

One has to wonder why they were even checking his stuff. I would assume that the Foreign Minister for another country should be able to zip through Customs without them going through their stuff.

He must have checked the box for bringing in food or something, which would make sense.

It also sounds when you read the quotes much different then the headlines read.

"Airport staff were surprised when I said it is good for you & I ate it for breakfast. They then waved me through," he added.

Sounds to me it was more of

What on earth is this stuff?

Oh, it's good for you and I have it for breakfast.

OK, go ahead.

The Australian media coverage indicates that the problem was with checkpoint security in MEX, not with US customs in NY:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...919-1kgxb.html

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". Last I checked, the US doesn't have "Foreign Ministers" and while Rudd is not my favorite politician, he's not stupid. I'm guessing WaPo assumed "at the airport" meant the US rather than Mexico.

But in answer to the OP's question: it was because of who he was. As noted, Vegemite has roughly the same consistency as peanut butter (that is, emphatically NOT a liquid) and is just as dangerous to air travel (that is, not at all.)

Vegemite should not be allowed through! Everyone knows Marmite is the better spread. :)

It was probably both. At 6:33 in the evening he posted this

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

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.

I can't imagine that Vegemite is all that good for you, with all that salt. I'd rather just take vitamins.