Election 2025: Anti-Israel Greens candidate goes from blockading Anthony Albanese’s office … to winning his preference

Anthony Albanese has claimed he is not responsible for his own how-to-vote cards as it emerged Hannah Thomas, the anti-Israel candidate preferenced by the PM, was part of a blockade of his Grayndler office.

Grayndler Greens candidate Hannah Thomas on Wednesday. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

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Anthony Albanese has claimed he is not responsible for his own ­how-to-vote cards and has never heard the name of his Greens ­challenger as it emerged the anti-Israel candidate preferenced by the Prime Minister was part of a blockade of his Grayndler electorate office.

Greens hopeful Hannah Thomas said on Wednesday the Prime Minister was “arrogant” for claiming he “wouldn’t be able to tell you” who she was, adding Mr Albanese had failed to act on the cost of living, climate and Gaza.

She also said Grayndler voters had hoped for a “Whitlam-esque prime minister” but had been let down by Mr Albanese’s performance as a leader.

The Australian can reveal Ms Thomas took part in what became a long-running protest outside ­Mr Albanese’s electorate office in mid-2024, which forced him to temporarily avoid the workplace on safety grounds. At the time, Mr Albanese said the blockade was “appalling” and had “no place in a democracy”.

Ms Thomas, who also spoke at a ­recent march that then marched toward the Sydney ­office, has advocated for Israel to be sanctioned and its ambassador to Australia expelled, while calling on the government to uphold the International Criminal Court’s ­arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday defended the choice to direct preferences to Ms Thomas in his seat despite criticising the party for months for its anti-Israel rhetoric.

“I’m not about promoting the Greens candidates, whatever their name is,” he said.

Mr Albanese claimed Labor’s “organisational wing” was responsible for his preferences, saying he was “not about promoting the Greens candidates”.

Both Labor and the Coalition in recent months have accused the Greens of “fanning the flames” of fraying social cohesion and taking advantage of the Gaza conflict for political gain.

A Greens spokesman said the party “utterly rejected” any “offensive accusation” that the party or its members were anti-Semitic.

Mr Albanese’s decision to direct preferences to the Greens drew sharp rebuke on Tuesday by Australia’s peak Jewish body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which called the move “profoundly disturbing”.

Mr Albanese questioned The Australian’s coverage of his preferences being directed to the Greens.

Ms Thomas at a pro-Palestine Sydenham protest, within Anthony Albanese’s electorate, in March. Picture: Facebook

“It’s rather strange, I’ve got to say. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you if you’d have asked me who the candidate was,” he said.

“I don’t intend to promote the name or the candidate of the Greens party candidate, and I’m surprised that The Australian had determined to promote them.”

Ms Thomas said Mr Albanese’s comments showed he was out of touch with their electorate.

“The Prime Minister’s comments are arrogant and confirm how much he takes the Grayndler community for granted,” she told The Australian.

“I’ve been knocking on doors across the inner west, and people here, just like millions across Australia, know you can’t keep voting for the same two parties and ­expect a different result.”

Ms Thomas said Grayndler had moved further to the left of Mr Albanese. “Grayndler is an ­extremely progressive electorate and people here had high hopes that their local member would be a Whitlam-esque prime minister who pursued bold reforms to make life better for everyday people,” she said. “Instead, they’ve been deeply disappointed with the government tinkering around the edges when it comes to cost of living, housing and climate, and failing to act on Gaza.”

Ms Thomas – who moved to Australia as a student in 2009 – said there was no preference deal between her and Labor, and she had simply adhered to the Greens’ move to put Labor above the Coalition in every seat.

Mr Albanese won Grayndler, which Labor has held since its 1949 inception, with 54 per cent of first preference votes in 2022.

Almost all Labor’s frontbench has engaged in preference deals with the Greens, including the nation’s most senior Jewish MP, ­Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

The two exceptions are ­Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who has given his second preference in the NSW central coast seat of Shortland to an ­independent, and special envoy for social cohesion Peter Khalil who is facing a tense battle with the Greens to hold on to the seat of Wills in Melbourne.

Labor’s MP in the inner-south Melbourne seat of Macnamara, Josh Burns, is running an open ticket and denying Greens preferences after rising fears among his electorate’s significant Jewish population.

The Greens retaliated to Mr Burns’ move, backing Climate 200 candidates and rebel senator Fatima Payman’s party over Labor in a slew of must-win contests in Victoria and NSW.

Speaking to Nine’s Karl Stefanovic on Wednesday’s Today program, Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said “no one in the ALP” had done more to “fight the Greens” than Mr Albanese, saying it was “clear” where the party stood. But Stefanovic said Mr Albanese in one hand had “bagged” the Greens and ruled out governmental negotiations with it, and in the other chose to do a preference deal with them.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles also defended the move and ruled out any “deal” with the Greens after May 3. He said Labor’s preferences in Grayndler were nearly obsolete as the seat is safely held.

“No deal with the Greens … and Anthony (Albanese) could not have been clearer,” he said.

The ALP’s preference furore came after the Coalition was engulfed in a controversial decision to direct its voters to preference One Nation second in a number of must-win seats. The move marks the biggest departure of the Coalition’s ­decades-long reticence to preference Pauline Hanson’s party after John Howard issued an edict in 2001 that One ­Nation should be “placed last on every Liberal Party how-to-vote card around Australia”.

Senator Hanson returned the favour, preferencing the Coalition second where it was either under threat or has a chance of beating Labor or an independent.