Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Liberal colleague Gladys Liu are facing High Court challenges over their eligibility to sit in Federal Parliament.

Mr Frydenberg faces two claims, one under section 44 over “offensive” claims about the citizenship of his mother.

His mother, a survivor of the Holocaust, migrated to Australia after World War II.

While any referral to the High Court would normally require a majority vote in the House of Representatives, the recent federal election provides a brief window for constituents to lodge a case directly with the Court of Disputed Returns.

Petitions were also filed on Wednesday asking the High Court to declare void Mr Frydenberg’s federal election win – and that of Ms Liu in neighbouring Chisholm – on the grounds of misleading and deceptive conduct in relation Chinese signs outside polling booths on election day.

A former challenger for Kooyong, Oliver Yates, has lodged a case, arguing that Mr Frydenberg’s election should be declared void because of the Liberals’ misleading and deceptive conduct.

Those proceedings are brought under section 362 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, claiming the results in Kooyong and Chisholm were affected by illegal conduct from the Liberal Party on the day of the election. 

It relates to a prominent sign in Mandarin, prepared by the Liberals. In the Australian Electoral Commission’s official colours of purple and white, it explained that the correct way to vote was for the Liberal candidate.

Read the article by Samantha Maiden in The New Daily.