Tom Tanuki
Covers:
Anti-racism, anti-fascism, Australian society, colonialism, social justice and culture.
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Articles by Tom Tanuki
Future PHON fiefdom: Australia's Mad Max monoculture
Now that Aunty Pauline has been elected as our new Prime Minister, I am entitled, as a white Australian, to assist in the process of enacting the exciting monoculture she promised way back in 2026. Let’s get to work. First up, we have to repay everyone who did us favours – bot farms, slavishly sympathetic or grovelling media, kickbacks and so on – to help haul Pauline up to the throne. The first thing the monoculture must do is pay back Pauline’s mates. First up, of course, abolish the minimum wage.
Sarah Henderson puts Senate Estimates on notice over Israel's Eurovision score
The pro-Israel lobby has proven they can nail activists to the wall, and now they will do it to your cultural sacred cows, too, writes Tom Tanuki. VICTORIAN LIBERAL SENATOR Sarah Henderson made a goose of herself and her office by "grilling" the SBS about Eurovision during Senate Estimates on . Her big concern was why Australia didn’t give any points to Israel during the Eurovision 2026 Grand Final. She demanded to know what the selection process for SBS’s seven-person jury was.
Paid agitator Avi Yemini's plan to harvest votes for One Nation
We need legislative reform that requires paid political agitators to disclose their earnings, particularly when they profit from exploiting democratic institutions, writes Tom Tanuki.
Curated accounts conveyed to Royal Commission without context
Hyperpartisan accounts of curated lived experiences failed to recall key facts at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, writes Tom Tanuki. YESTERDAY, Sami Shah wrote in Crikey about grim testimony shared by Jewish Australians, as heard in Hearing Block 1 at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
Pauline Hanson's Far-Right takes flight thanks to billionaire backers
There’s a lot of time and money invested in Australia’s Far-Right, and a lot of that money comes from backers with deep coffers — deep enough to buy Pauline Hanson a sexy new plane, writes Tom Tanuki. ‘Australia Marches’ organiser Scott Challen hoped a post-Anzac Day rally in Canberra would turn out like another successful Convoy to Canberra situation, with thousands descending on Parliament to voice their support for ‘net-negative migration’ (read: mass deportations).
Beneath the anti-Zionist Big Banana
Our political leaders keep making tone-deaf, overbearing laws, then watch them get almost immediately wrecked by the courts, writes Tom Tanuki. SOMEONE WROTE SOMETHING TERRIBLE on the Jewel of Coffs Harbour, the famed Big Banana. I found out this had happened, but not specifically what it was they’d said. ‘____ Israel’, said the photo.
Remembering Desmond Filby: Sovereign Citizen and accused child flasher
Desmond Filby, the man commonly called by the media "Dezi Freeman", was shot by police, but should instead be remembered for his alleged child sexual abuse, argues Tom Tanuki. I naively assumed that after seeing Desmond Filby shot dead by police officers in Thologolong, some seven months after he first escaped arrest, we might see the press stop referring to him by his Sovereign Citizen (SovCit) movement cosplay name "Dezi Freeman".
How online distrust is rewriting reality
From six fingers to body doubles, AI is fuelling a new era where distrust spreads faster than truth, writes Tom Tanuki. WHEN I HEARD about Benjamin Netanyahu’s six fingers, I thought of Tom Hanks. I refer to a brief segment of a video in which genocidaire Netanyahu is attempting to prove to the public that he is still alive and not yet, more’s the pity, burning in hell.
Censorship is a tool of the state — but it's also a tool of the censored
Queensland’s new speech laws raise alarm bells and stakes for writers and activists, writes Tom Tanuki. QUEENSLAND FORFEITED their most prestigious literary awards on Thursday, including the only two career-launching Australian prizes accessible to emerging Indigenous writers. On the same day, they also criminalised free speech by passing a bill making two specific terms of phrase punishable by two years’ imprisonment.
Hate speech laws are spreading unevenly across Australia
While new hate speech laws are being enforced, it seems every other dangerous form of racism in this country is left unchecked, writes Tom Tanuki. BRANDAN KOSCHEL was sentenced last week to one year in jail after delivering a brief antisemitic speech during Sydney’s 26 January 'March for Australia' open mic. The magistrate observed at the end of breakneck proceedings that her harsh sentencing, using one of Australia’s many new laws to deal with this sort of thing, “must be used to deter others”.
Perth’s Invasion Day bomb didn’t shock the nation
A white supremacist brought a nail bomb to Invasion Day, but the response from the nation was not outrage. Tom Tanuki reports. IT TOOK A LITTLE under a fortnight for WA Police to charge the man who tried to detonate a bomb at Perth’s Invasion Day rally with engaging in a terrorist act. The wait confounded many of us, who expected we knew precisely what motivated that attempted bombing.
The National Socialist Network is dead
The far-right group is gone, but the danger isn’t — Australia has just turned an organised hate group into hundreds of abandoned "lone" actors. Tom Tanuki reports. THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST NETWORK (NSN) is dead, disbanded just days before the passage of the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate & Extremism Bill into law.
Invasion Day is truly worth protecting
As white nationalists try to “reclaim” Australia Day, Invasion Day remains the real counter-rally in the face of racism. Tom Tanuki reports. AT MELBOURNE'S FIRST March for Australia (MFA) on 31 August last year, organisers saw their next steps reflected in the size of the crowds. One speaker and organiser took to the mic during speeches to call for a follow-up event to "take back" Australia Day. Though that was months away at the time, they sensed an opportunity.
#5 TOP IA STORY OF 2025: 'March for Australia' is not common patriotism — it’s Nazi-led mobilisation
With Israel calling out everyone but actual Nazis this week over alleged "antisemitism", this August story by IA's fearless anti-fascist Tom Tanuki charts another step by our nation down a dangerous road. ***** The messaging for the viral rally is slippery and vague, but the organisers are just another restructure of the far-right. Tom Tanuki reports.
When it comes to standing up to fascism, unity doesn’t mean uniformity
As neo-Nazis train for violence, pretending mass rallies alone will stop them ignores history — and leaves movements dangerously exposed. Tom Tanuki reports. I'M GLAD TO BE publicly debating anti-fascist tactics with other lefties. Hashing out our tactics in response to organised racism, on platforms a little more permanent than sniping in back-and-forth Instagram stories, isn’t done enough.
Physical resistance, rocks and how to build a mass movement
Antifascist combat training is about feeling safe, not tough, writes Tom Tanuki. WRITING IN Red Flag about why we should carefully consider what tactics we use when mobilising against white supremacists, Socialist Alternative’s (SAlt) Omar Hassan writes: 'Tactics have to have the aim of making the action meaningful to those involved, helping encourage passive sympathisers to get more involved and being defensible to those not already invested in the issue.
Deporting neo-Nazi Matthew Gruter is a funny, terrible idea
After news broke of the deportation of South African man Matthew Gruter, the Sydney-based member of the National Socialist Network who now sits in Villawood Detention Centre considering his options, my favourite reaction came from within my own house: “It’s what he would have wanted ❤️”. This sentiment captures the smirking ambivalence I feel about Gruter’s sudden departure. But do I think deporting a neo-Nazi is a good development? Or a troubling one?
Anti-fascism must be community-led
Laws, bans and politicians have done nothing to thwart the rise of organised white supremacy in Australia, writes Tom Tanuki. MOMENTS LIKE the present require me to repeat myself in the plainest terms I can, so I will. No solution in the form of new laws, bans and cops implemented by politicians to address the rise of organised white supremacy in Australia, at the behest of themselves, lobbyists and the media, has ever done anything to thwart it. None of it.
'March for Australia' losing numbers and strength
Australia’s far-right marches have gone from working-class rage to white nationalist delusion. Tom Tanuki reports. THE SECOND MARCH for Australia had around 85 per cent less attendees than the first. I’m not interested in undervaluing my opponent’s ability to draw a crowd, and I’ll be the first to agree that many people underestimated the crowd sizes from the first round. They were huge.
Why we show up when fascists march
Right-wing marches are little more than angry parades, but they are effective recruitment systems designed to attract interest for growth, writes Tom Tanuki. ON OCTOBER 19, there are counter-rallies against nationalists and their white supremacist directors who are, as the flyers say, 'Marching for Australia'. I want all anti-racists to come to our events — and by that I really mean: working class people of all races who have an inkling that something is at stake when a wave of nationalism rises.
A former neo-Nazi won't help the ABC play catch-up on white nationalism
Jeff Schoep led America’s biggest neo-Nazi group — now he sells himself as a “former extremist”, writes Tom Tanuki. JEFF SCHOEP RAN the National Socialist Movement (NSM) from 1994 to 2019. Under his watch, it grew to remain the largest neo-Nazi group in the U.S. for some time. It dwindled in size in 2017, when Schoep felt that it was time for the NSM to “become […] more mainstream” in the wake of Donald Trump I.
Trump's war on anti-fascism will challenge anti-fascism to outlast him
Trump’s push to brand anti-fascism as terrorism may be enough to encourage a global revival of resistance. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP is making noises again about designating ‘ANTIFA’ (anti-fascism) as a terrorist organisation. The last time he made those noises was in June 2020.
Neo-nazis turn anti-immigration marches into a showcase for violence
Australia’s far-right wasn’t just marching on 31 August — the National Socialist Network hijacked rallies nationwide, using them as displays of intimidation. Tom Tanuki reports. I HAVE SCOURED OVER video footage from all of the nationalist March for Australia rallies that were held nationwide on Sunday, 31 August.
'March for Australia' is not common-sense patriotism — it’s a Nazi-led mobilisation
The messaging for the 'March for Australia' rally is slippery and vague, but the organisers are just another restructure of the far-right. Tom Tanuki reports.
The moral cleansing has commenced for the ultra-Zionists and their lackeys
As public opinion starts to shift, those in Australia who legitimised genocide must face accountability, writes Tom Tanuki. A RISING DISGUST with unending Gazan starvation, death and pain has broken beyond the former boundaries of those of us who call ourselves anti-Zionist, or Palestinian, or Arab, or Muslim, or anti-racist, or ethical, or political.
Silencing dissent: How Australia’s Zionist lobby is rebranding anti-racism as hate
As Gaza burns, Australia’s Zionist lobby pushes laws to silence anti-Zionists, rebranding dissent as hate and stripping rights in the name of safety. Tom Tanuki reports. THE ONLINE HATE PREVENTION INSTITUTE (OHPI) released a report this week looking at antisemitism in online responses to the Adass Israel synagogue firebombing. It catalogues many screenshots depicting genuinely antisemitic posts, and some I’d describe as anti-Zionist. Then it makes some recommendations.
Jillian Segal's plan to combat antisemitism straight from lobby group wish-list
How a right-wing lobby group’s 15-point plan became government policy on antisemitism. Tom Tanuki reports. SINCE THE RELEASE of the anti-democratic and authoritarian recommendations contained in Jillian Segal's 'Special Envoy 's Plan to Combat Antisemitism', Report, much has been made in some political corners of her husband’s revealed $50,000 donation to hard-line right-wing lobby group, Advance Australia.
Encouraging gender stereotypes won't protect children from abuse
Banning men from childcare won’t protect children — but it will fuel bigotry and distract from real solutions, writes Tom Tanuki. I AM DISAPPOINTED in calls to ban men from childcare in the wake of the horrific spate of recent abuses uncovered in Victorian childcare centres. Any media outlet mainstreaming this discourse is responsible for threatening an already too-small workforce of excellent male carers, and obfuscating the root causes of real child abuse.
Australia’s Iran response demonstrates our love for double standards
From Gaza to Iran, hypocrisy reigns — Australia backs U.S. strikes while shedding even the pretence of principles or international law. Tom Tanuki reports. FROM MY FRINGE-POLITICS VANTAGE, I’m too familiar with the effortless double standards of a little merry-go-round of chameleonic far-right political opponents over the years.
Australia condemns LA Police for rubber bullets after quietly arming our own
The Australian media's explainers on rubber bullets don't explain that our police have them too — and that they use them here, on us. Tom Tanuki reports. THERE'S BEEN MUCH DISCUSSION about rubber bullets since Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot with one in LA while covering the brutal American police and military crackdown on growing anti-ICE protests.
The politics of violence and repression in the wake of Israeli embassy shooting
Shutting down discussion on the Israeli embassy shooting can't be our only response — otherwise, talking about violence becomes no different to promoting it, writes Tom Tanuki. A FRIEND AND COMRADE sent me the Israeli embassy shooter’s manifesto, published by Ken Klippenstein. They thought I’d find it worthwhile reading.
Greens hammered by legacy media spin on Gaza
Voters weren't sick of hearing about Gaza — legacy media journalists seem tired of talking about it, writes Tom Tanuki. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE joy to listen to all the sweeping societal diagnoses from full-time salaried political correspondents in the wake of the election. Some Canberran tea leaf-reading from professional Parliament House hallway creepers. I’m most thrilled of all to learn that the electoral defeats of the Greens were down to Australians being sick of hearing about dead kids in Gaza.
Anzac Day booing stunt an attempt to boost right-wing recruitment
Outrage sparked by the latest neo-Nazi stunt is all part of a political program to get signatures, writes Tom Tanuki. THE MAINSTREAM RESPONSE to a neo-Nazi booing an Anzac Day dawn service last week has been exactly as the neo-Nazi hoped it would be. Lots of naming of the neo-Nazi in question and little critical discussion of his intentions, with any and all of that drowned out by the chorus of "debate" over the merit of Welcomes to Country.
Antisemitic bomb threat was a hoax — the political overreaction was real
A string of antisemitic hoaxes was exploited by both major parties; neither deserves to be in power next political term, writes Tom Tanuki. ON 29 JANUARY of this year, we first learned about a caravan full of explosives found in outer Sydney with a cartoon Acme bomb box inside with the , "this is antisemitic" written on it (moreor less).
Compulsory Anzac Day services an attack on freedom
Forcing children to participate in school Anzac Day services is an attack on freedom and should be made illegal, writes Tom Tanuki. WHEN I WAS a little boy, forced to attend Anzac Day services at gunpoint, I used to stand in my school uniform during the minute’s silence, getting into the mood by imagining Saving Private Ryan scenes.
Twitter promotes Nazi groups so it's time to say goodbye
As Twitter further plunges into the far-right cesspool, a line needs to be drawn once ads for the National Socialist Network start to appear, writes Tom Tanuki. I’M CONSTANTLY renegotiating my relationship with social media. I’m not writing yet another article about “digital detoxes” here, so I don’t mean as an individual — even if that thought has weighed on our minds for a decade as our collective relationship with big tech and social media has grown heavier and more extractive.
Cyclone Alfred turns larrikinism into animal cruelty
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred brought out the worst in humanity as people mocked the natural disaster for clicks and likes, risking the lives of pets in the process, writes Tom Tanuki. I STARTED WRITING this on a laptop which I charged to around 20 per cent from a local shopping centre. By now we’re mostly past the ongoing effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, although there are still around 70,000 people without power (down from just under half a million people).
Four Corners shifts spotlight to Neo-Nazi cult tactics endangering children
A Four Corners program has helped reposition the spotlight away from neo-Nazi cult groups' salacious media stunts and onto their child grooming tactics, writes Tom Tanuki. A MORE MAINSTREAM discussion of the child grooming, child recruitment and coercive control tactics of the National Socialist Network (NSN) is beginning to happen as a result of ABC’s Four Corners coverage earlier this week.
New Labor laws render neo-Nazis into needless martyrs
If the intended aim of legislating against Nazi gestures and symbolism is to stop racist fascists from organising and growing, the past year has proven that doing so has the opposite effect, writes Tom Tanuki. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE state this country is in regarding its civic freedoms when I am forced to write to defend the right of neo-Nazis to do Nazi salutes from an anti-fascist perspective. But here I am. It shouldn’t be a crime and they should be able to do it.
So, Elon Musk did a one-armed salute: Here's what's more important
The really fascist stuff on Trump’s inauguration day wasn’t Elon’s right arm — it was the executive orders turning the United States of America into an ultranationalist garrison state, writes Tom Tanuki. IN DECEMBER, I drove down a Coburg street and passed a man in his 60s standing on the kerb grinning and Hitler saluting at oncoming traffic. I could immediately see he wasn’t doing it as a sincere Nazi gesture. I’m an educated adult of sound mind and I can read and intuit context.
Sickly nationalism: You want Vegemite McShaker fries with that?
A multinational’s chips, flavoured with a yeast-based spread that we're all convinced is right up there with koala and thong as a hallmark Australian tourist attraction? Tom Tanuki is having none of it! McDONALD'S IS selling new Vegemite McShaker fries for a bit. Cross-branded promotional marketing is all for nothing if you don’t fully realise its benefits by informing the stenographers of the nation’s local establishment media via an immediate press release.
#10 TOP IA STORY OF 2024: Comic banned after Zionist heckler calls in big guns
THE TOP TEN IS BACK! Celebrate the holidays with our top 10 stories of 2024 over the next week and a bit. This story of deception and skullduggery caused astonishment among the IA audience in April. ***** The isolated report of one Israeli heckler has been broadcast around the world as an instance of “anti-Semitism” after a performance by Northern Irish alternative comedian Paul Currie.
AI Christmas music a soulless cash-in on holiday spirit
I want to give you a list of AI Christmas music to block in your major music streaming platform. I don’t think it’s comprehensive. I bet there’s a bunch of new ones that I am still unwittingly playing. I just want to feel festive for a moment sometimes, which is why I play this music. But now I know about artificial intelligence (AI) Christmas music, so I can’t be happy in December, either. AI sludge is already everywhere and now it’s here, too. Some stupid list won’t be enough to solve the problem.
Bashed in the street: Being Jewish and wearing a keffiyeh
A smattering of pro-Palestinian activists were mobbed by a large contingent of Zionists recently, illustrating how hard it's become for communities to disagree with the unfolding genocide, writes Tom Tanuki. ON MONDAY evening, a Zionist event was held at the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation to discuss 'Israel’s challenges and opportunities in a new Middle East'. Speakers included former and current (The Israel Defence Forces) IDF personnel.
Stop crying over Trump: Start thinking about unchecked tech barons
The most important thing is to involve ourselves in politics more frequently if we really, truly believe that things are as bad as we say they are... in our grieving videos, writes Tom Tanuki. NOW THAT Donald Trump has been declared the winner of the U.S. Election, I’m reflecting on what it was like in 2016 when the same thing happened. Back then I was just as active in the Left and, therefore, engaged in the inevitable run-off from U.S. political news as I am now.
'Democracy is a system in which parties lose elections.' So they should.
The recent QLD Election only exemplified our broken, violent "democratic" system. Neither women nor children stood to be protected — not by the Liberals and not by Labor, writes Tom Tanuki. THE LNP WON the recent Queensland State Election with a campaign marked by proposals to criminalise abortions and introduce "adult time, adult crime" laws, which would contravene international human rights standards in order to paint targets on the backs of children.
Stop asking me who to dob to about Nazis
Nazi salute bans and media coverage only serve to promote and normalise neo-Nazis, writes Tom Tanuki. I'VE NOTICED THE TENOR of the messages I receive about neo-Nazi activity changing somewhat over the years. If someone sees an individual or group conducting a neo-Nazi activist activity or displaying visible Nazi imagery in public – actions that are increasingly visible to the public these days – they’ll often message me about it.
Vale Chimpy, the anti-fascist feline hero
Chimpy the cat, beloved friend of Tom Tanuki and champion of the anti-fascist cause, has sadly passed away. Tom explains why he was such a notable feline. CHIMPY MAY NOT have sailed the world like Matthew Flinders' cat, nor did he have a video game starring his likeness as former U.S. President Bill Clinton's cat Socks did. But in his own way, he is a Notable Cat and not merely some personal concern of mine.
Conservatives resort to bullying teenager over protest cosplay
A teenage cosplayer has become the target of online bullying after appearing in an ADF cadet costume on a Sky News broadcast. Tom Tanuki reports. NIKKI HAS BEEN wearing an old cadet’s costume to pro-Palestinian rallies and combining it with clown make-up. I admire young Nikki for getting out and having a good time while making a public, fun display of activism, as I'm sure do you. And that should be the end of the story. But lesser creatures than ourselves are upset about Nikki’s costume.
Refugees aren’t illegal — No one is 'illegal'
Taking in refugees should be a fundamental part of being a responsible citizen nation of the world, not a policy rooted in a 'successful' cost-benefit analysis, writes Tom Tanuki. THE ORGANISED Left battles as a matter of core principle and practice against the tightening of national borders and locally stands against the brutality, indefinite detention and deportation dealt out to refugees. Such refugees are often fleeing here from situations that governments like ours are complicit in creating.
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