Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Cam Williams is due to deliver a public apology at tonight’s Council meeting after being found to have engaged in misconduct.
The Cam Williams apology follows an arbitration finding over statements made during an STPL News interview and material shared on his councillor Facebook page. Arbiter Noel Harvey OAM found Williams breached three clauses of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct over two incidents in December 2025.
The application was brought by Cr David Gill and Cr Kate Roper. Williams was ordered to provide a written apology to Mornington Peninsula Shire, Gill and Roper, and read the apology aloud at the next Council meeting. STPL News previously reported on the full misconduct finding and the orders made against Williams.
Facebook Post Prompted STPL News Enquiry
Although the arbitration report lists the STPL News interview as the first allegation, the Facebook post came first chronologically.
Williams had shared a Council Watch Victoria opinion post on his official councillor Facebook page before STPL News contacted him. The post criticised arbitration costs and internal disputes at Mornington Peninsula Shire.
STPL News approached Williams after receiving enquiries about why a sitting councillor had shared the material. Williams later took part in an almost 40-minute phone interview on 13 December 2025.
The original STPL News interview examined the Council Watch post, internal divisions at Council and a controversial councillor term-limits motion. That interview became a significant part of the later misconduct proceedings.
STPL News Interview Examined In Misconduct Finding
During the interview, Williams was questioned about councillor conduct, arbitration, internal divisions and the term-limits motion.
Williams acknowledged the motion had been directed at Gill.
“It was literally just to have a dig at Gill.”
Williams also made statements about Gill, Roper and other councillors. The arbitration findings examined claims that Roper had leaked information to the media, comments concerning Gill and IBAC, and statements about the motives and conduct of other councillors.
Before publication, STPL News provided Williams with excerpts from the interview and gave him an opportunity to identify factual or transcription errors. Williams responded that the excerpts “looked ok”, aside from raising a minor query about one line.
Several days later, Williams issued a public apology and said some of his comments were inaccurate. STPL News reported that Williams had backtracked on parts of the interview, although he did not specify which published comments he disputed. He also removed the Council Watch post.
Arbitration Costs Claim Also Examined
The second allegation related to the Council Watch material Williams had shared.
The post claimed previous councillor arbitration had cost ratepayers “hundreds of thousands of dollars”. Harvey recorded the actual cost as $1,800.
Williams later acknowledged he had exercised poor judgement. The arbiter accepted his earlier apology was genuine and noted Williams had removed the post, participated in mediation and governance processes, completed additional training and had not repeated similar conduct.
However, the earlier apology was found to be too general. Harvey said it did not specifically address the reference to IBAC concerning Gill or the inaccurate claim about arbitration costs.
Gill had sought a suspension of Williams for two to three months, along with a detailed public apology. Harvey determined a suspension was not warranted.
Cam Williams Apology Due Tonight
The ordered apology will be delivered at tonight’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting.
The matter began with the Facebook post, followed by the STPL News enquiry and interview. It later progressed to an arbitration application and formal misconduct finding.
The wording of tonight’s apology will show how Williams addresses the specific statements identified by the arbiter.
The Ordinary Council Meeting begins at 6.30pm tonight, Tuesday 29 September, at the Municipal Offices, 90 Besgrove Street, Rosebud. The meeting details and livestream are available through the Mornington Peninsula Shire website.
STPL News will report on the apology following the meeting.
