CLARIFICATION OF COMMENTS

Published on 18 February 2021

The Mayor and Council would like to respond to an article published in the Western Suburbs Weekly issue of Thursday, 18 February 2021 (titled 'Off the Mark').

This article refers to comments allegedly made by Town of Cambridge Councillor Andres Timmermanis and relate to Premier Mark McGowan.

As Mayor of the Town, I have officially apologised to the Premier for any embarrassment or offence this may have caused.

The comments made by Councillor Timmermanis are his personal views only and do not in any way represent the views of the Town of Cambridge Council, Mayor, Chief Executive Officer and Staff.

I believe the comments are totally inappropriate and have requested Councillor Timmermanis retract those comments and issue a personal apology to the Premier - which he has provided. The article states that "Mayor Shannon refused to condemn the Councillors comments".

This comment is totally incorrect and I have requested a retraction from the Newspaper in this regard.

When the matter was brought to my attention, last week, I requested the Town's Chief Executive Officer (who is also the Statutory Complaints Officer) to investigate this matter as a possible breach of the Town of Cambridge Code of Conduct.

The Chief Executive Officer has issued a preliminary report and has formed the view that Cr Timmermanis' comments may constitute a breach of the Town of Cambridge Code of Conduct.

The Chief Executive Officer's investigation is currently in progress and he will provide a report to the Council which will be acted upon accordingly.