After being sacked by Avant Mutual for his Christian faith and conservative views, Matthew Squires is pursuing a landmark free speech case that will test workplace protections for Australians nationwide.
Matthew Squires, a committed Christian and former IT professional at one of Australia’s largest insurance companies, never expected his faith and political convictions would cost him his career.
“It felt like the ground had disappeared beneath my feet,” Matthew recounts.
“One day I was providing for my family, the next I was staring into the eyes of my children, trying to explain why their dad’s name was being dragged through the papers… [and] why I suddenly had no job.”
The life-upending experience came after he was preselected to run for the Liberal Party in the 2023 New South Wales state election for Wyong, a seat the party considered unwinnable.
Matthew’s campaign was quickly overshadowed by a media storm surrounding comments he’d made privately on Facebook between 2019 and 2021.
Following one-sided coverage in The Australian, Matthew’s story spread nationwide. The Liberal Party disendorsed him, and his employer, Avant Mutual, swiftly terminated his employment.
Matthew is confident his dismissal was unlawful under section 772 of the Fair Work Act, which protects Australians from being fired due to political opinion or religious belief.
With the support of the Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA) and expert barrister Paul Jeffreys, he is pursuing a case that could set a precedent for workplace protections across Australia.
Matthew recently sat down for an interview about his story with The Daily Declaration.
He explained that his decision to run for office was driven by a desire to serve his community and a commitment to openness.
“State elections were coming up and there was an unwinnable seat in Wyong. Nobody was really keen to run. And I said, look, I’ll put my hand up,” he told The Daily Declaration.
Serving as secretary of his local Liberal Party branch at the time, his nomination was swift.
“I got pre-selection pretty easily because it was a bit of a poison chalice.”
Advised by a Liberal MLC to switch off his social media, Squires instead opted for transparency.
“I had a choice whether to do that and just be this silent placeholder, or keep what I thought was the authentic record and not cover up who I was,” he said.
It wasn’t long before a legacy media journalist went digging for dirt on his campaign, joining a private libertarian Facebook group to gain access to comments by Matthew on years-old old social media posts.
Matthew told The Daily Declaration,
“I had a reporter from The Australian ring me up, He probably went through all my digital history.”
“He asked, ‘Are these your comments?’
Matthew continued, adding that he was at work when he received the phone call.
“I confirmed the comments were mine. He asked me if I still held them. I said, ‘I’d want to elaborate and put them in context for you.’”
But Matthew wasn’t given the chance.
Almost immediately, national media outlets framed the story broadly, prompting talkback coverage and further scrutiny.
“Within a day or two, every newspaper had picked up that national report that he’d run and framed it in odd ways,” Matthew explained. “I was on 2GB for a long time.”
“It got so removed from who I was. I was scrambling to try to get a right of reply out there to some media. But it was just like the narrative was set.”
The media had honed in on two comments in particular.
In a discussion about “conversion therapy” bans, Matthew had argued that some people are always going to see homosexuality as perversion because — to many Christians especially — that’s what it is.
Another post centred on the inherent irony of a group like “Queers for Palestine”, when hardline Islamists don’t tolerate homosexuality.
“The libertarians were like, why are these people on the same side?” Matthew explained. “And I made the comment that they’re both serving evil ideologies, and that’s why they’re aligned.”
But Matthew clarifies:
“I hadn’t said Palestinians or homosexuals — I’d said Palestinian terrorists and homosexuality activists are aligned because they’re both serving evil ideologies.”
“I still stand by both comments,”
Matthew told The Daily Declaration resolutely.
The Liberal Party was swift in distancing itself from Matthew once the media had done its work.
“The Liberal Party, when the story came out, dis endorsed me — basically said, ‘this guy doesn’t represent us’,”
he told The Daily Declaration.
But the party’s denunciation had no practical effect and was more about optics.
“It didn’t change anything because I was already on the ballot paper as a candidate, but they were just keen to stop the negative media,” Matthew explained.
Avant Mutual was also quick in terminating Matthew’s employment.
“I didn’t really get a right of reply with Avant either. The headline was that I was an Islamophobe, a racist, a homophobe, all this stuff,” he explained. “It was just follow the process and then you’re out the door.”
Matthew points out that, ironically, Avant’s member base would likely sympathise with his point of view.
“Avant Mutual is the largest doctors insurer in Australia. They provide indemnity insurance to over 50% of doctors in the country. So maybe half the doctors in Australia are members of this organisation, and typically they’re more conservative — small business owners, doctors that are typically not radical leftists,”
he told The Daily Declaration.
Indeed, given its mutual structure, Avant’s doctor-members effectively own the organisation, he further clarified, making his termination all the more controversial.
Matthew now works for a local family business in a similar role to his former position.
“It’s not as much money, but there’s no HR department and no workplace politics,”
he told The Daily Declaration.
“It took me about a year, though, to find employment. Obviously, once you’re known for a particular opinion, it limits the companies that want to employ you.”
Despite the hardships, Matthew remains resolute.
“I know the law protects political and religious opinion. So I am confident that I have a legal framework to defend myself. If I’ve got a shot, I want to do my best to set a precedent. Because if this protects me, it protects everybody in the same boat,” he said.
Avant Mutual has suggested that Matthew’s dismissal was due not to his views, but to reputational damage caused by media attention. But Matthew’s legal team challenges this reasoning, arguing that the law protects beliefs regardless of external backlash.
HRLA has described the case as “a clear violation of protected rights of speech and religion” and “an important reminder of the dangers of cancel culture, a regime where freedom of speech and religion is stifled.”
Matthew’s case adds to recent legal challenges examining federal protections.
In June 2025, journalist Antoinette Lattouf successfully claimed unlawful termination against the ABC after opposing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. That case awarded her $70,000 in compensation, with an additional $150,000 penalty imposed on the national broadcaster.
Squires’ case similarly probes the boundaries of political and religious expression in professional settings.
“Free speech remains a fundamental right, even for offensive opinions,” according to HRLA.
“If we don’t defend free speech, it’s not big corporations and ideologues who will pay the price [but] ordinary Australians like… Matthew.”
Matthew explained that his case will help decide
“whether ordinary Australians — nurses, tradies, teachers — are safe to express their convictions” and if “free speech and freedom of faith have a place in the workplace”.
“Avant is a multi-million-dollar giant with endless resources and top-tier lawyers already working full-time to crush me.”
“I am just one man. An ordinary Australian. A Christian.”
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Kurt Mahlburg has studied architecture and theology among other interests of philosophy, history, surf, the outdoors and travel. He spent several years in Indonesia and has worked as a young adults pastor. He is now a teacher, a freelance writer, the Features Editor of the Canberra Declaration and contributes regularly at Caldron Pool & other online publications. He hosts his own blog 'Cross + Culture' at KurtMahlburg.blog. Follow Kurt on 𝕏.
Check out Kurt Mahlburg’s new book Cross and Culture: Can Jesus Save the West?
