Minister weighs in on WA potato debate

Federal MP Michael Keenan has weighed into the West Australian potato debate, saying it is strange that "Spud King" Tony Galati could face prosecution for exceeding his production quota.

Mr Galati, who has for many years challenged the rules of the Potato Marketing Board, lost his bid to grow an extra 2000 tonnes of the root vegetable on Wednesday, with the WA Supreme Court imposing an injunction on the Spud Shed owner.

Mr Keenan urged the WA government to repeal its "past era" potato laws on 6PR on Friday, saying the state needed to stay competitive in a difficult international environment.

"It's this sort of micro-economic reform that we need to be looking at and it does seem rather strange to me that someone could be prosecuted for something like this and obviously these are the sorts of reforms we need to look at to make sure we do have a competitive and open economy," the justice minister told 6PR.