Kuala Lumpur: In a real-life political drama, Hannah Thomas – daughter of Malaysia’s former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas – is going head-to-head against Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the country’s election on May 3.
The 30-something firebrand is running under the Greens banner in Grayndler, the very seat Albanese has controlled since 1996 – and she’s not pulling any punches.
“It’s an insane thing to be doing, but it’s also extremely exciting,” Hannah said in an interview with The Feed SBS.
Originally from Malaysia, Hannah migrated to Australia as an international student back in 2009.
Today, she’s the youngest candidate in Grayndler – and she’s gunning for the top.
And get this – Australia’s quirky voting system could actually help her.
Thanks to preferential voting, if no one gets over 50 per cent, votes from losing candidates get reallocated based on voters’ rankings.
The Labor Party has even put Hannah as its second choice on their how-to-vote cards – a move that’s causing an uproar, especially given her fierce pro-Gaza activism.
In contrast, the Australian Greens lists Albanese as only their third choice.
‘He failed to take action’
So what made Hannah throw herself into the political battlefield?
She says she was driven by Albanese’s failure to stand up against the horrors happening in Gaza.
“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 on the Greens’ website.
But that’s not all, Hannah also blasted Albanese for blaming Australia’s housing crisis and cost-of-living woes on migrants – something she called out as divisive and cruel.
With Australia heading to the polls in just days, Hannah has already made history by daring to challenge the country’s most powerful man.
Now, the world waits to see if she can pull off the political shocker of the year.
