10 In early January 2004 the defendant, on behalf of Serenity Cove Management Pty Ltd, approached IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd, a company that specialises in clearing vegetation and bushfire mitigation work. On or about 17 January 2004, Mr David Silcock, the general manager of IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd, together with Mr Lance Fairbrother, met the defendant and Mr Richard Harris, the director of development of Serenity Cove Management Pty Ltd, at the subject property, where the defendant showed Mr Silcock and Mr Fairbrother areas he wanted cleared and mulched. As a result of the meeting a decision was taken that the removal of vegetation would be best achieved through the use of an excavator and tractor and with mulching equipment and an excavator with a groomer attached.
11 On 23 January 2004, Serenity Cove Management Pty Ltd entered into a contract with IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd for the clearing of vegetation on the various areas of the site. The contract was signed by the defendant and by Mr David Silcock, the general manager of IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd. IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd in turn arranged for two sub-contractors to supply the equipment and do the work under Mr Fairbrother's supervision.
12 The clearing of vegetation and mulching in the areas nominated by the defendant took place from 29 January 2004 to 8 February 2004. The defendant went to the site about four or five times whilst the clearing was being undertaken, when he discussed with Mr Fairbrother the work being carried out by the sub-contractors. The defendant expressed satisfaction with the work being then undertaken.
13 Several areas of the subject land were cleared. The parties have agreed that the total of the areas cleared is no more than 2.9 hectares. The areas cleared contained significant numbers of native plants which, by their type and combination, comprised each of the relevant endangered ecological communities.
14 The clearing came to the attention of Sutherland Shire Council on about 10 February 2004 after being advised by members of the public. Shortly thereafter officers of the council and an officer of the Department of Environment and Conservation ("the DEC"), Mr Jason Bentley, went to the site where they saw tracts of cleared land with virtually all vegetation removed. The cleared part of the ground was covered in what appeared to be a wood chip mulch.
15 In early 2004, as part of his investigation, Mr Bentley served notices requiring the defendant's company to supply information and records relating to the investigation of the clearing. In response to the first notice issued on 19 February 2004, Mr Stephen De Lapp on behalf of Serenity Cove Business Park Pty Ltd indicated that the clearing could only have resulted from the activities of another company, Lilliendal Civil Pty Ltd, which had been engaged to build a platform and undertake earthmoving works for a film set on another part of the land and from actions by the defendant's son, Mr Nicholas Williams, in carrying out weed reduction. Although the notice required Serenity Cove Business Park Pty Ltd to provide information as to who did the clearing during the relevant period, the company did not supply any information or records which indicated that either IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd or anyone else apart from Mr Nicholas Williams or Lilliendal Civil Pty Ltd were doing any relevant works on the site.
16 On 31 May 2004 Mr Bentley interviewed Mr Dominic Fanning, the defendant's environmental consultant, who had apparently been engaged to carry out mapping of flora and fauna constraints as part of a Site Constraints Analysis to be used as the basis for a development application for a subdivision of the land. The subdivision application had been lodged with the council on 24 July 2003. Mr Fanning agreed that the site contained the three endangered ecological communities and that he had informed the defendant that the vegetation on the site was protected.
17 On 6 July 2005 Mr Bentley served Ms Diana Marshall, administrative assistant for the Serenity Cove/Williams' group a companies, who was employed by Serenity Cove Management Pty Ltd with a notice under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (as it applies to the NPW Act) requiring information and records. Mr Bentley served another notice requiring Serenity Cove Business Park Pty Ltd to nominate a person to be interviewed on its behalf. After communicating with the defendant's lawyers on several occasions, Mr Bentley arranged to interview the defendant and the companies' employees on 27 and 28 July 2005.
18 The record of interview with the defendant on 28 July 2005 is in evidence. The defendant said in the interview that he had asked his son and two other employees to spray and slash weeds, namely pampas grass and bitou bush. He denied that he had authorised the removal of native vegetation. I observe that this answer was a lie: as noted above the defendant had signed a contract with IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd for it to clear the areas which he himself had nominated; moreover, the defendant visited the site on a number of occasions when the clearing was being undertaken and expressed satisfaction with the works.
19 The defendant also said in the interview that he was not someone who supervised the removal of the vegetation. This again was a lie; as sole director and secretary of the company the defendant himself not only told Mr Fairbrother and Mr Silcock what areas he wanted cleared but, as already noted, he visited the site on four or five occasions and expressed satisfaction with the work. The defendant also denied that he was personally involved in the removal of any vegetation - an evasive answer in light of the fact that he expressly authorised it.
20 In the record of interview with Ms Marshall, she informed Mr Bentley that any invoices and other paper work from contractors engaged to do the works on the site would be in the office as she would have arranged payment. On 22 August 2005, based on what he had been told by Ms Marshall, Mr Bentley by a further notice required further information and records from Serenity Cove Business Park Pty Ltd. In response that company, on 13 September 2005, supplied information and records which had not been previously supplied, but no documents or information was supplied relating to IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd or the sub-contractors who did the clearing. The only relevant records supplied were invoices for works done by Mr Peter Mangan of Baycastle. A record of interview was later conducted with Mr Mangan who said that he only undertook weeding using a backhoe on other parts of the site.
21 Further notices requiring information and records were served on Serenity Cove Business Park Pty Ltd and another associated company of which the defendant was sole director and secretary, Parist Holdings Pty Ltd. Parist Holdings Pty Ltd had receivers and managers appointed to run its affairs. The response to the notice came from the receivers and managers, Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu, rather than the defendant or one of his staff.
22 The response contained information concerning a contractor, IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd which had been engaged specifically to undertake the removal and mulching of the vegetation on the site in January and February 2004, which is now the subject of the present charges. This was the first time that the DEC had obtained any information about the involvement of IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd. As a result of the information obtained from the receivers and managers of Parist Holdings Pty Ltd, further enquiries were made in late 2005 and early 2006 which resulted in evidence being obtained from IDS Consulting Services Pty Ltd showing its involvement and that of its sub-contractors and the defendant's involvement in the offences.
23 It is thus apparent that the following conclusions may be drawn about the defendant's conduct: