Tom Tanuki

Australia, Melbourne

Writer at Freelance

youtube: https://t.co/fIJtYMDdrY | bluesky: https://t.co/dpbWKZotEK

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Articles

Australia condemns LA Police for rubber bullets after quietly arming our own

2 weeks ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

4 weeks ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

1 month ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

1 month ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

2 months ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

2 months ago | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

Mar 21, 2025 | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

Mar 12, 2025 | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

Feb 21, 2025 | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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

Feb 7, 2025 | independentaustralia.net | Tom Tanuki

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.