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CCC called into potato wars

WA's potato wars have taken a bizarre twist with the State Government-sanctioned marketing corporation taking an internal complaint about one of its top executives to the Corruption and Crime Commission.

The Potato Marketing Corporation has accused chief operating officer Tim Cusack of gross misconduct and suspended him on full pay.

It is alleged Mr Cusack was working with Potato Growers Association president Dean Ryan to shake up the corporation's board and on plans to replace it under deregulation of the industry.

One of the post-deregulation options allegedly canvassed by Mr Cusack involved a grower collective entering into a partnership with the Galati Group.

Some key players in the potato game believe Mr Cusack was simply preparing for inevitable change in an industry controlled by State legislation since 1946.

The Government has stopped just short of declaring it will deregulate the industry if it wins the next election and Labor is strongly in favour of the move.

Premier Colin Barnett promised growers during campaigning for the Vasse by-election that the regulated system was safe in this term of Government, but Agriculture Minister Ken Baston has warned there are no guarantees beyond 2017.

"They (growers) recognise that the existing system is on notice and that at some stage a future government will have a deregulated system. I have made no secret of this to the industry," Mr Baston told Parliament last week.

In the meantime, the Government has told the corporation to enforce the 1946 legislation, including a quota system designed to keep a lid on production.

Spud Shed owner Tony Galati has virtually dared the PMC to attempt to prosecute him on allegations of overplanting. A glut in supply this summer led to hundreds of tonnes of potatoes being dumped and fed to cattle. It is understood corporation chief executive Peter Evans discovered documents that led to the allegations against Mr Cusack after a search of computer records.

Mr Evans refused to comment yesterday and Mr Cusack could not be contacted. Mr Ryan also refused to comment.

Mr Baston is moving to inject new blood on to the PMC board and to replace long-serving chairman Bert Russell.