Tommy Thomas' daughter to take on Aussie PM in election
Published: Apr 27, 2025 8:21 PM
Updated: Apr 28, 2025 8:12 AM
Summary
- Tommy Thomas' daughter is contesting against Aussie PM Anthony Albanese in the parliamentary election.
- Hannah says she was motivated to contest due to Albanese's complicity in the Gaza genocide as well as his anti-migrant stance.
Hannah Thomas - daughter of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas - is running for a Parliament seat in Australia as a member of the Greens party.
She is contesting in Grayndler, with one of her opponents being the incumbent MP and interim prime minister Anthony Albanese.
"It's an insane thing to be doing, but it's also extremely exciting," she said in an interview with The Feed SBS.
Hannah had immigrated to Australia in 2009 as an international student. It is not clear when she became an Australian.
She is the youngest candidate contesting in Grayndler. Albanese has held the seat since 1996.
Albanese's Labor Party has placed her as its number two choice on how-to-vote cards in the seat.
Aussie PM Anthony Albanese
Australia practises a preferential voting system, in which voters get to rank candidates by choice.
In Hannah's case, if no one secures more than 50 percent of votes and Albanese has fewer votes than Hannah, then the Labor votes would transfer to the Greens - if so ranked.
The Greens have Albanese as their third choice on their how-to-vote cards.
The Labor Party's decision has been criticised by some in Australia due to Hannah's pro-Gaza activism.
Standing with Gaza, refugees
In an interview posted on the Greens’ website, Hannah said that the Albanese government's complicity in the genocide in Gaza was one of the reasons that motivated her to contest in the election.
"Watching a live-streamed genocide in the electorate of the prime minister was too much to bear.
"There are very few people on this planet who possess the power to restrain the Israeli war machine as it slaughters countless Palestinians, but our local member was one of them.
"Instead, he failed to take action and should be held to account," she said.
Hannah revealed she was also motivated to contest against the sitting prime minister due to his anti-refugee policies and for blaming the housing and cost-of-living crises on migrants.
Australia heads to the polls on May 3.
Australia practises a preferential voting system, in which voters get to rank candidates by choice.
In Hannah's case, if no one secures more than 50 percent of votes and Albanese has fewer votes than Hannah, then the Labor votes would transfer to the Greens - if so ranked.
The Greens have Albanese as their third choice on their how-to-vote cards.
The Labor Party's decision has been criticised by some in Australia due to Hannah's pro-Gaza activism.
Standing with Gaza, refugees
In an interview posted on the Greens’ website, Hannah said that the Albanese government's complicity in the genocide in Gaza was one of the reasons that motivated her to contest in the election.
"Watching a live-streamed genocide in the electorate of the prime minister was too much to bear.
"There are very few people on this planet who possess the power to restrain the Israeli war machine as it slaughters countless Palestinians, but our local member was one of them.
"Instead, he failed to take action and should be held to account," she said.
Hannah revealed she was also motivated to contest against the sitting prime minister due to his anti-refugee policies and for blaming the housing and cost-of-living crises on migrants.
Australia heads to the polls on May 3.
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