MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – A prisoner is challenging an Australian state’s ban on inmates eating Vegemite, claiming in a court suit that withholding the polarizing yeast-based spread breaches his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.”

Immigration has become a hot-button issue in Australia, particularly amid specious claims it is responsible for the housing crisis and straining the economy. Recent anti-immigration rallies across the country have brought it further into the public spotlight.

In 2015, soon after he had rolled Tony Abbott to become prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull was heckled when, with a straight face, he told New South Wales Liberals, "We are not run by factions". Once, there had been a contrast, at least in degree, between the factionally-organised Labor party and the Liberals. But those days are long gone.