Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Cam Williams has issued a public apology following fallout from an interview with STPL News, conceding he “mis-spoke”, that “some” of his comments were “not accurate”, and that he should not have named fellow councillors or speculated about their motives publicly.
For reference, you can find the original interview here: Councillor Confirms Term-limits Motion Was Used To Target Colleague
In his statement, Cr Williams also apologised for sharing a related Council Watch post and confirmed it has since been removed.
“I want to apologise for comments I made to STPL News, and for sharing a related Council Watch post on this page.”
“I regret any offence caused to my fellow councillors. I shouldn’t have named councillors or speculated about their motives in public.”
Cr Williams said STPL News contacted him while he was at an event and suggested he answered the interview “on the run”.
“STPL contacted me while I was at an event and I answered on the run. That’s on me. I mis-spoke and I should have been more careful. Some of my comments were not accurate, and I regret that.”
Interview review and quote confirmation
Cr Williams’ statement characterises the interview as “on the run”; however, STPL News records show the interview occurred after a call-back arranged with Cr Williams and ran for almost 40 minutes.
This suggests that he was not in a rush to get off the phone.
As part of standard practice, STPL News provided Cr Williams with the excerpts that directly quoted or referred to him, giving him the opportunity to identify any factual inaccuracies or transcription errors before publication. Cr Williams responded that the excerpts “looked ok”, raising only a minor query about one line, and did not dispute the substance of the comments published.
STPL News account of the contact timeline
STPL News first attempted to contact Cr Williams before reporting on the Council Watch post he shared, seeking clarification. Cr Williams replied that he would call back.
After no call was received the following day, a follow-up message was sent. Cr Williams then confirmed he would call and rang later that afternoon. A detailed phone interview followed, lasting almost 40 minutes.
During that conversation, Cr Williams was advised he would be given the opportunity to review his comments once a draft was completed. The following day, STPL News provided Cr Williams with his comments for review, which he explicitly confirmed via email prior to publication.
Apology acknowledges inaccuracies but does not specify them
While Cr Williams now says “some” comments were “not accurate”, his statement does not identify which remarks he disputes, does not provide corrections, and does not retract any specific comments made during the interview.
Following the public statement, STPL News has contacted Cr Williams seeking clarification on which statements he now says were inaccurate and whether he stands by key remarks made during the interview, including those relating to the September term-limits motion and its intent.
At the time of publishing, no further clarification had been provided.
Cr Williams concluded his statement by saying he would be more measured going forward.
“I’ve removed the Council Watch post and I’ll be more careful and measured in future when speaking publicly or to the media.”
“I remain focused on working respectfully with my colleagues and getting on with delivering for our community.”
STPL News will update this article if further clarification is received.
