Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage v Clarence Valley Council [2018] NSWLEC 205

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage v Clarence Valley Council [2018] NSWLEC 205 Hearing dates: 24 October 2018 and 10 December 2018 Date of orders: 21 December 2018 Decision date: 21 December 2018 Jurisdiction: Class 5 Before: Preston CJ Decision: See orders at [130] Catchwords: Offences and penalties – sentence – knowingly harming an Aboriginal object – culturally modified scar tree – cutting down and removal of scar tree – restorative justice intervention in sentencing process – objective circumstances of the offence – undermining the statutory objects to conserve Aboriginal cultural heritage – significantly increased maximum penalty – substantial harm caused – practical measures to prevent harm – control over causes of offence – offence committed recklessly – medium objective seriousness – subjective circumstances of the offender – lack of prior convictions – early plea of guilty – remorse for the offence – assistance to authorities – unlikely to reoffend – retributive, preventative, reparative and restorative purposes of sentencing – monetary penalty directed to Aboriginal cultural heritage projects – publication and notification orders – order to establish training courses – payment of costs

Sentencing – restorative justice conference – process for – agreement reached – use of conference and agreement in sentencing Legislation Cited: Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 ss 3A, 21A, 22 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 s 257B National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 ss 2A(2), 5, 86, 87(1), 90, 90A, 156B, 200(1), 205(1) National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2010 National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2009 cll 80C, 80D Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 s 6(2) Cases Cited: Anderson v Director-General of the Department of Environment and Conservation (2006) 144 LGERA 43; [2006] NSWLEC 12 Anderson v Director-General of the Department of Environment and Climate Change (2008) 163 LGERA 400; [2008] NSWCA 337 Axer Pty Ltd v The Environment Protection Authority (1993) 113 LGERA 357 Camilleri's Stock Feeds Pty Ltd v Environment Protection Authority (1993) 32 NSWLR 683 Chief Executive of the Office of Environment and Heritage v Crown in the Right of New South Wales [2016] NSWLEC 147 Director-General of the Department of Environment and Climate Change v Rae (2009) 168 LGERA 121; [2009] NSWLEC 137 Elias v The Queen (2013) 248 CLR 483; [2013] HCA 31 Environment Protection Authority v Baiada Poultry Pty Ltd (2008) 163 LGERA 71; [2008] NSWLEC 280 Environment Protection Authority v M A Roche Group Pty Ltd [2015] NSWLEC 29 Environment Protection Authority v Waste Recycling and Processing Corp (2006) 148 LGERA 299; [2006] NSWLEC 419 Garrett v Williams (2007) 151 LGERA 92; [2007] NSWLEC 96 Inkson v The Queen (1996) 6 TASR 1 Markarian v The Queen (2005) 228 CLR 357; [2005] HCA 25 Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120; [2011] HCA 39 Plath v Rawson (2009) 170 LGERA 253; [2009] NSWLEC 178 Plath v Vaccount Pty Ltd t/as Table Land Timbers [2011] NSWLEC 202 R v Campbell [2014] NSWCCA 102 R v Geddes (1936) 36 SR(NSW) 554 R v Howland (1999) 104 A Crim R 273; [1999] NSWCCA 10 R v Kilic (2016) 259 CLR 256; [2016] HCA 48 R v Thomson; R v Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383; [2000] NSWCA 309 Ryan v The Queen (2001) 206 CLR 267; [2001] HCA 21 Veen v The Queen (No 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465; [1988] HCA 14 Texts Cited: Mark Hamilton, "Restorative Justice Interventions in an environmental law context: Garrett v Williams prosecutions under the Resource Management Act 1991 (N2) and beyond" (2008) 25 Environmental and Planning Law Journal 263 John M McDonald, "Restorative Justice Process in Case Law" (2008) 33 Alternative Law Journal 41 Brian Preston, "The use of restorative justice for environmental crime" (2011) 35 Criminal Law Journal 135 Rob White, "Indigenous communities, environmental protection and restorative justice" (2015) 18 Australian Indigenous Law Review 43 Rob White, "Reparative Justice, Environmental Crime and Penalties for the Powerful" (2017) 67 Crime, Law and Social Change 117 Category: Sentence Parties: Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage (Prosecutor) Clarence Valley Council (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Ms A Rose (Prosecutor) Mr M Wright SC (Defendant)