Michael Anthony loses $300,000 fine appeal for Darwin Harbour pollution

A Darwin developer who bulldozed contaminated building material into the harbour has lost his appeal against a record-breaking fine.

A DARWIN property developer who bulldozed contaminated building material into the harbour has lost his appeal against a $300,000 fine.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal application by Michael Adrian Anthony and his company DWD Project, who were found guilty of failing to comply with pollution abatement notices in December.

Anthony allegedly bulldozed steel, concrete blocks, tiles, electric cabling, metal wire and various plastics off the edge and into the water and two neighbouring Crown land properties.

The alleged pollution went on for years, dating back to October 2015 soon after he purchased the Darwin Harbour property.

Court documents said arsenic, copper, lead, zinc, asbestos, polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), and insecticides were detected among the 13,430 cubic metres of dumped material.

The clean up bill is estimated to range between $4m and $19m, depending on the level of asbestos in the waste.

Anthony was issued the first pollution abatement notice in 2018 and in December 2021 he was found guilty of failing to comply with the pollution orders.

He was fined $300,000 by the Darwin Local Court — largest penalty ever handed down by the court for that offence.

This month, Anthony attempted to appeal the fine in the Supreme Court arguing that it was “manifestly unreasonable”, and called for a resentencing hearing. This appeal was quashed by Justice John Burns who said not only was the fine just — it was “moderate” compared to what he could have faced.

Darwin property developer and business owner Michael Anthony at his hotel, the Ramada Suites Zen Quarter, Darwin. Picture by Che Chorley.

Justice Burns said in the three years between the first notice and the court case, Anthony had “shown no willingness” to start the multimillion-dollar clean-up effort. Justice Burns said evidence suggested Anthony was “brazen” in the dumping on the Crown land and was unsuccessful in negotiating with the government about how to remove the waste. “The cost of remediation could act as both a punishment and as a deterrent,” he said. “It will be an expensive process, and the cost of remediation may well exceed the current market value of (the) lot,” Justice Burns said.

Anthony faces two related charges; a pollution offence that could carry a five-year prison term, and violating the Planning Act.

These cases are before the courts and a plea has not yet been made.

His senior counsel David Robinson previously argued the December decision could prejudice his other trials but Justice Burns said “an accused person … does not have the right to dictate which offence or offences are to be tried first”.

Justice Burns dismissed seven other attempted grounds to dismiss the fine.