The parity principle requires that a substantial difference in individual sentences for co-offenders be reflected in the total effective sentences; a difference of 2 years in individual sentences reduced to 6 months in total effective sentences engenders a justifiable sense of grievance. The double punishment principle in Pearce v The Queen does not apply where two importation offences are factually separate, involving different consignors, dates, and addresses, even where some facilitating conduct was common. A sentencing judge is not required to state expressly that the totality principle is being applied. A factual error bearing on rehabilitation and specific deterrence (here, the period between cessation of offending and arrest) is material to the sentencing discretion.
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