Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has refused to deny he was gagged by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from speaking on behalf of an ill Labor MP at the burnt-out Melbourne synagogue, in an escalation of the political scrapping over rising antisemitism.

Mr Dutton on Monday accused Labor’s Josh Burns, who is Jewish and who holds the marginal seat of Macnamara where the Ripponlea synagogue is located, of failing to stand up on behalf of Jewish Australians.