ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING - prosecutions for failure to disclose political donations - disclosure required when making applications for modifications to approved development - five charges - early guilty pleas - for four charges, failure to disclose multiple donations - disclosure made of corporate donations but not of reportable donations made by a director
SENTENCING - characterisation of offences - failures due to reckless indifference or negligence of the Defendant’s company secretary to be regarded as aggravating factor - Defendant’s prior environmental convictions not a factor of aggravation - very limited subjective factors in Defendant’s favour - approach to consideration of offences collectively - offences with multiple failures to declare being toward the upper end of the range - offences with single failure to declare being in the middle of the range - accumulation and totality where multiple offences - fines imposed
SENTENCING - publication orders - availability to be ordered when legislation providing for them came into force after commission of one of the offences - legislative prohibition on retrospective application of increased penalty - publication order made with respect to four of the five charges
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE - Prosecutor’s application for moiety of fines imposed - appropriate to make an order in present circumstances

Unled for the Department of Planning and Environment. Shoalhaven Starches was fined $107,000 in total.