The Liberal Party ratcheted up the pressure on Oliver Yates, the former chief executive of the Clean Energy Finance Corp, by accusing him of participating in an antisemitic plot to remove Treasurer Josh Frydenberg from office.

NSW Senator Andrew Bragg told the Senate that Mr Yates, who unsuccessfully stood against Mr Frydenberg in this year's election, was an associate of Michael Staindl, an environmental activist who has launched a legal challenge over Mr Frydenberg's citizenship that has been encouraged by Trevor Poulton, a Melbourne lawyer who has questioned the severity of the Holocaust.