A Perth library clerk is fighting back after being forced out of his job by far-left colleagues who he says targeted him after he objected to DEI training.
Declan Mansfield, who worked at the library for fifteen years, wrote an article about the training for The Spectator, and said that when some of this colleagues discovered his writings they subjected him to hostility, gossip, and manufactured disciplinary action.
Mr Mansfield has now launched proceedings in Western Australia’s State Administrative Tribunal against the City of Armadale to challenge what he describes as unlawful discrimination on the basis of political belief, with the backing of the Free Speech Union of Australia.
The FSU has started a legal fighting fund to cover Mr Mansfield’s costs, and Director Dr Reuben Kirkham said the case highlighted a growing problem across Australian government workplaces.
Our latest legal case, which is against the @CityofArmadale! As Declan says, ‘thus far and no further’. pic.twitter.com/yQQQRo42Vy
— Free Speech Union of Australia (@FSUofAustralia) October 20, 2025
“Declan’s case is about something bigger than one man’s treatment. It’s about the right of every Australian to hold and express political opinions without fear of punishment from their employer,” he said.
“The message from this case will be simple: political discrimination is not acceptable anywhere – not in libraries, not in universities, not in government.
“We’ve seen a steady drift towards ideological intolerance in government employment. People who express mainstream views outside of work are being marginalised, investigated, and frozen out.”
Mr Mansfield, who worked in a library in Ireland before moving to Australia, said in a short documentary produced by the FSU that he “did not want to leave, but I felt like I was compelled to and I had no choice”.
He also described the atmosphere in his former workplace as being like “East Berlin”, and said some of the other staff put up far-left posters, wore rainbow lanyards, and spoke about wanting to “queer” the library.
He also said they would deliberately mis-shelve or hide books that were critical of far-left extremist gender ideology, cancel reservations, and in one case even removed a book they didn’t like the library.
Header image: Declan Mansfield (FSU).
