Woman with Pathanamthitta roots to take on Australian PM in May election

LAWYER-ACTIVIST Hannah Thomas, who has ancestral roots in Pathanamthitta district, is preparing to contest against Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his constituency of Grayndler on May 3, on a Greens ticket.

- JAISON WILSON @Pathanamthitta

Grayndler is an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives, located in the Inner West region of Sydney, New South Wales, the very seat Albanese has controlled since 1996. In her 30s, Hannah is also the youngest candidate in the fray. Born in Malaysia, she is the daughter of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, the first non-Malay and non-Muslim Malaysian to hold the post in that country. Her mother is Anny Iype.

Having moved to Australia in 2009 as an international student, Hannah has been vocal on various issues ranging from the Palestine-Israel conflict to immigrants and refugees.

According to the firebrand leader, she was driven by Albanese's failure to stand up against the horrors happening in Gaza.