Greens candidate Hannah Thomas is taking on Anthony Albanese in the seat of Grayndler

Meet the candidate the Greens hope can take down Anthony Albanese in his own seat – a former international student who wants Israel sanctioned over the Gaza war.

Hannah Thomas is the Greens candidate for Grayndler – the Sydney seat held by the Prime Minister. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The Greens are running a former international student who wants Israel sanctioned over the Gaza war in the Prime Minister's seat of Grayndler.

Meet Anthony Albanese’s competition – Hannah Thomas, 34, who is taking on the PM in his electorate in Sydney’s progressive inner west.

In her candidate biography, Ms Thomas said she knows what it’s like to experience racism and experience visa uncertainty.

The former international student is campaigning on a policy platform focused on climate, cost of living, housing and the Gaza war.

Ms Thomas, who has a legal and policy background, moved to Australia in 2009 and became a citizen a couple of years ago.

“If you had told me 16 years ago – when I was a culture-shocked, naive international student – that I would be running against the Prime Minister, there’s absolutely no chance I would have believed you,” she said.

“Obviously it is a crazy thing to do but it’s also a very exciting prospect and I think it’s an amazing opportunity.”

Ms Thomas said she was no longer eligible for Malaysian citizenship or any other citizenship and therefore would not be disqualified from being elected due to section 44 of the constitution, which prohibits dual citizens from sitting in parliament.

The PM holds Grayndler by a margin of 17.05 per cent and received 53.63 per cent of the primary vote at the last election, followed by the Greens on 22 per cent and the Liberals on 15.98 per cent.

Feeling the heat? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail at the Boyer Paper Mill near Hobart on Monday. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Ms Thomas is yet to see Mr Albanese out on the hustings in Grayndler but said she had heard of the occasional appearance by the PM in his long-held seat.

“One of the interesting things about this seat is that Labor kind of take it for granted,” she said.

“And obviously the Liberals are pretty irrelevant. In many ways the Greens kind of have the opportunity to run the biggest, strongest and most ambitious on the ground campaign.”

Ms Thomas said voters in the progressive seat felt betrayed and disappointed by what they saw as the PM’s lacklustre response to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“To be frank, I have only been encouraged by the many people in the electorate who are telling me they are voting against Labor for the first time because of Palestine,” she said.

Mr Albanese, a member of the Labor left faction, was a fierce critic of Israel in the early years of his parliamentary career but the PM has attempted to be more diplomatic over the past 18 months amid considerable pressure.

A new political movement around the issue of Palestine is targeting the seats of several Labor frontbenchers at the May 3 election.

These include Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Watson, Education Minister Jason Clare in Blaxland and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen in McMahon.

Ms Thomas said the Albanese government should sanction Israel and she was proud to take a strong position on behalf of Palestinians.

“People remember that their local member (Mr Albanese) used to care for Palestine, used to pretend to be on their side,” she said.

“Lots of those people were camped outside his office to meet with him but he refused.

“So absolutely, there’s a lot of feelings of betrayal, there’s a lot of disappointment and people haven’t forgotten what his position used to be.”