Dr Joseph Toscano (born 1951) is a medical practitioner, a broadcaster and an anarchist who lives in Melbourne, Australia. He has become widely known as an anarchist spokesperson for the Anarchist Media Institute through his broadcasting on community radio, his frequent letters to newspapers such as The Age and Herald Sun and his initiation of community campaigns. He was married to the artist Ellen José until her death in 2017.
He was educated in Brisbane at the University of Queensland where he acquired his Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, then his doctoral degree from University of Melbourne. When he moved to Melbourne in 1977 Dr Toscano established an activist group called the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society.
Dr Toscano has presented the long running Anarchist World this week program on 3CR since 1977, which is also rebroadcast to community radio stations around Australia through the Community Radio Satellite managed by Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). A talk back show with Joe Toscano is also a popular 3CR program. A weekly newsletter, the Anarchist Age Weekly Review has been compiled by Joe Toscano since 1991 and distributed around the world.
Anarchist Centenary Celebrations
The Australian Anarchist Centenary Celebrations in Melbourne from 1–4 May 1986 were used by some anarchists to rebuff the negative connotations placed on the word "anarchy". Dr Joseph Toscano told a reporter from the Sun "Anarchy is a bogey word: we are coming out of the closet, as it were, to show that we do not have horns or tails. We are simply Australians who have a different philosophy of life. We don't believe in Big Government: in fact, we don't believe in government at all. Government, any government is based on violence and power. If you don't believe it, just look at your headlines over the past few weeks. Anarchy doesn't mean bombs in the street or supersonic bomber raids, it means 'without rulers'. Anarchy means voluntary co-operation and self-management, equality, shared economic decision making."
The Centenary celebrations included a May Day march on 1 May of about 400 people, including several large puppets and a number of anarchists from around the world. Over the weekend several events occurred including an anarchist film festival, banner, poster and historical displays, a two-day conference held at RMIT and Melbourne University, and a picnic in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.
After the Anarchist Centenary Celebrations the Anarchist Media Institute was established by Dr Toscano and other Melbourne anarchists to increase the media profile of anarchists and correct bias and misconceptions about anarchism in the media.
Campaigns
Display of Skulls in the Old Melbourne Gaol
In September 1997 the Anarchist Media Institute demanded the removal from public display of the skulls of two women in the Old Melbourne Gaol, part of a phrenology display by the National Trust of Australia. The skulls were from two women, Frances Knorr and Martha Needle, both executed by hanging in 1894 for murderous crimes. The skulls had been on display for 20 years. Descendants of the two women had been originally consulted about the exhibition and were happy with the display.
Joseph Toscano said the display was macabre, outdated and intrusive and asked why plastic replicas could not be used instead. Ms Diane Gardiner, the public programs manager said the museum had no intention to remove the skulls from display. However, the following February the skulls were removed from display with Joseph Toscano saying that they should finally be accorded a proper burial. Diane Gardiner denied the skulls removal was due to any pressure.
Friends of OUR ABC
During 2000 Joseph Toscano formed a lobby group, Friends of OUR ABC, to agitate against commercialisation and privatisation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation In November he was elected unopposed to the Friends of the ABC management committee.
Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion
In 2002 Dr Toscano initiated a commemoration of the Eureka Stockade on its anniversary date - 3 December.
