The independent candidate threatening to unseat Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the hotly contested seat of Kooyong in Melbourne has publicly committed to a televised debate on Sky News next week, after two earlier attempts at a debate failed due to either side refusing to partake.

Climate 200 candidate Dr Monique Ryan revealed a short time ago she had accepted an invitation from Sky News Host Kieran Gilbert to debate Frydenberg next week in Kooyong.

“The debate will be held in KOOYONG with questions from undecided KOOYONG voters,” she wrote on Twitter.

“Will you accept this invitation Mr Frydenberg and face questions from the Kooyong community?”

It comes after Ryan yesterday rejected an offer by Nine, owner of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, to host a 30-minute studio debate between the two candidates that would have been broadcast on free to air TV on Thursday afternoon.

Ryan said she wanted a debate in Kooyong rather than in a TV studio in Docklands without an audience.

The Channel Nine offer followed Frydenberg’s refusal to take part in a Kooyong Candidates Forum on Wednesday night organised by climate change activist group Lighter Footprints staging it.

At a photo opportunity at Whitten Oval in Melbourne’s west on Tuesday Frydenberg did not directly respond to a question about whether he would say yes to a debate in Kooyong run by a media outlet.

“I’m ready to debate (at Channel 9) this Thursday. The so-called independent in my electorate, as of today, they’ve said no, if they would reconsider I would look forward to it,” Frydenberg said.

Nine journalist Chris Uhlman told The Age and Herald that holding a debate in Kooyong rather than a TV studio would require “an unnecessary expense”.

“This is a format that Nine Melbourne uses routinely in state elections,” he said.

The Treasurer is slated to partake in a televised debate next week against shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the National Press Club in Canberra.