The twist has added extra spice to a campaign bound to attract national attention, given Ms Gillard's sudden elevation to the nation's highest office.

A 37-year-old artist and activist originally from Queensland, Mr Van announced his intention outside Ms Gillard's Werribee office on Friday. He will contest the seat for the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

The party's website states: "We stand for the transformation of human society, from its current basis of greed, exploitation, war, oppression and environmental destruction, to a commonwealth of social ownership, solidarity and human freedom, living in harmony with our planet's ecosystems."

It advocates the "overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by socialism" and bases itself on the theories of Karl Marx and the socialist revolutions in Russia, Vietnam and Cuba.

A Braybrook resident, Mr Van has been embroiled in a number of controversies over the years, mostly related to his left-wing artworks and an anti-racism protest on Australia Day this year in which he dressed up in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, angry at the government's policies towards asylum seekers.

Mr Van said he believed the time was right to make a stand against the government and its policies.

"We oppose their stance on asylum seekers and we believe they've propagated a fear campaign, particularly in light of the current economic situation, he said.

"We're against the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and Australia's support of the Sri Lankan regime, which, in part, is responsible for the influx of asylum seekers.

"We don't have a lot of money and we know we'll struggle to get a large number of votes."

Mr Van said his party believed the Prime Minister had been influenced by the unions and the mining lobby.

He conceded he was in a unique position given his uncle's relationship with Ms Gillard.

"It's unique, but I've been working politics into my art for years and with Kevin as prime minister, our paths were bound to collide," he said.

"We're not close, but we've never had a bad relationship - we're opposites. However, he did buy my first set of oil paints."