AU potato growers bill the government $500k
WA Premier Mark McGowan made the decision to drop the case, which was launched by the now-defunct Potato Marketing Corporation (PMC) against Mr Galati for allegedly planting more than his designated quota of potatoes under regulation in 2015, flooding the market.
But just a week after the decision was made to abandon the grower-funded civil suit, Mr Galati pleaded guilty to a contempt of court charge and admitted to breaching an injunction in place to limit his potato plantings.
After the civil case was abandoned, Potato Growers Association chief executive Simon Moltoni said farmers wanted their money back.
"These are entirely grower funds. Given the Government has decided without any notice to drop the damages claim, naturally we want the remainder of our money back," he said.
Mr Moltoni said he had tried to speak with the Premier about why the civil case was abandoned without consultation with growers, but he had been unsuccessful.
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