Braaap hit with $25,000 penalty

A MAGISTRATE says Tasmanian motorcycle business Braaap Wholesale Pty Ltd put its own financial concerns ahead of stringent road safety laws when it shipped 25 bikes to an interstate dealership without federal approval.

Braaap, now in liquidation and owing $130,000 to the Australian Taxation Office, was fined $25,000 this week for nine contraventions of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, to which the company had pleaded guilty this month.

Launceston Magistrates Court heard Braaap founder Brad Smith had pleaded with the federal Department of Industry and Regional Development in 2016 for permission to ship 57 imported bikes to a dealership in Sydney, with whom it had a $1 million deal in the balance. Braaap sent 25 of the bikes to the dealership even though it had not received permission to do.

The company also found itself in hot water after a May 2016 audit found six motorbikes Braaap had imported had components, including brake pads, fitted that did not match the parts specified in their import permit.

Although the bikes were later found to be compliant with Australian standards, Magistrate Ken Stanton said Braaap had been “reckless” about the risk to road users.

The court heard Braaap had engaged a specialist company to provide it with importation advice when it decided to begin selling road bikes after years of dealing dirt bikes.

Mr Stanton said Braaap’s guilty plea, although not entered at the earliest opportunity, indicated “corporate remorse”.

He said, although Braaap failed to profit from the deal, it was nonetheless “a clear case of putting the financial interests of Braaap ahead of compliance with the regulatory scheme and its safety focus”.

Mr Stanton said he had taken Braaap’s financial circumstances into account when setting the fine at $25,000. The company had faced a maximum penalty of $486,000.