The objective seriousness of a drug supply offence must be assessed wholly by reference to the nature of the offender's conduct. Deaths at music festivals from drug consumption, the prevalence of drug supply at such events, and the demographic profile of offenders are relevant to general deterrence but not to objective seriousness. Where parties join issue on objective seriousness, a sentencing judge cannot simply adopt one party's submissions without exposing the reasoning process and engaging with the competing submissions. Adoption of Crown submissions that include erroneous factual assertions unsupported by the evidence compounds such error.
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