Josh Frydenberg faces two High Court challenges to Kooyong election result

Pair who know each other via shared global warming interests take the Treasurer to High Court.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has denied he has any issues regarding his eligibility to sit in parliament. Picture: Gary Ramage

Josh Frydenberg is facing two separate High Court challenges to his election victory in Kooyong from a failed independent candidate and a climate change activist who know one another through their shared interest in combating global warming.

The Treasurer is being challenged over his eligibility to sit in parliament, with Kooyong resident Michael Staindl accusing him of possibly holding dual citizenship via his mother, a Holocaust survivor.

Mr Staindl is regularly involved in climate change protests in Melbourne, writes for climate action group websites and led a “Stop Adani” sit-in at Bill Shorten’s ­office in 2017.

Oliver Yates — an independent candidate for Kooyong who won less than 9 per cent of the primary vote — is filing a separate challenge against Mr Frydenberg’s use of Chinese-language election signs, which he claims were misleading to voters.

Mr Frydenberg denied he had any issues regarding his position in parliament.

“I have clear legal advice that I do not hold citizenship of another country,” he told The Australian.

Michael Staindl, pictured with local candidates Carolyn Ingvarson and Lucy Manne at a pre-election event. Picture: Josie Hayden

Mr Yates — the former Clean Energy Finance Corporation chief executive — who unsuccessfully challenged Mr Frydenberg told The Australian that he knew Mr Staindl through their shared climate activism, but clarified the activist was not involved in his election campaign.

Mr Yates also said he was not supporting or funding Mr Staindl’s separate challenge against Mr ­Frydenberg. “I know Mr Staindl through his community work,” he said. “I think he leads one of the local environment groups. There was some crossover with local environment groups and my campaign, but I didn’t know him very well. He certainly doesn’t stick out as someone who was involved in my campaign at all. I have nothing to do with his challenge.”

Greens candidate for Kooyong Julian Burnside said he did not know Mr Staindl and was not involved in either High Court challenge, but endorsed both challenges, arguing that Mr Frydenberg could be ineligible to sit in parliament. “Mr Frydenberg’s changed his story on his mother being stateless to his mother being Hungarian,” Mr Burnside said.

Mr Frydenberg has long denied he is eligible for citizenship in Hungary as his mother, Erica, was left stateless when she fled the Holocaust in 1943, and he has presented documents from 1950 in which his mother is listed as stateless.

Mr Staindl is an IT specialist involved with Melbourne climate group Lighter Footprints.

During the election, he spoke at a climate protest outside Mr Frydenberg’s office and campaigned on social media for Kooyong voters to oust the Treasurer.

Mr Staindl said he was filing his challenge because Mr Frydenberg had “constantly betrayed him” on the issue of climate change.

Independent Oliver Yates during the election campaign. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

“I’ve known Josh for many years,” he told Guardian Australia.

“I’ve been trying to get action on climate change and he makes you feel well heard, but I think he’s consistently betrayed me, the electorate and the country on climate change. He should show us he’s entitled to sit. He might well be. But he’d be stupid if he hasn’t ­renounced citizenship or can’t prove he (holds only Australian citizenship).”

The new Liberal MP for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, is also facing a High Court challenge. Mr Yates has teamed up with a voter in Ms Liu’s seat, Leslie Hall, to argue Liberal Party signs in Mandarin — which looked like Australian Electoral Commission material — misled Chisholm voters as well as those in Kooyong.

Marque Lawyers principal ­Michael Bradley is representing Mr Yates and Ms Hall and said the High Court should declare the Treasurer’s election void.

“The High Court considered this a long time ago about misleading content in elections … we believe these signs are on the wrong side of that,” he said.

Mr Yates said he did not know Ms Hall and she had approached his legal team after he said he would challenge Mr Frydenberg over the Chinese-language signs a week ago. She was unavailable for comment. Acting Victorian Liberal Party director Simon Frost said the signs were authorised by the Commonwealth Electoral Act. Labor’s acting national secretary, Paul Erikson, said the ALP was “disappointed” in the Chinese-language signs but would not back the High Court challenge.