Tommy Tanna, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Tommy Tanna n.

also Tanna, Tommy, Tommy Kiki, Tommy Tan, Tommy Tanner

[generic use of proper name Tommy + Tanna, an island near Vanuatu (the Near Hebrides); the supposed ‘Pacific Islander/Polynesian gardener from Manly’ Tommy Tanna who who is trad. credited with bringing surfing to Aus. was presumably also the generic nickname]

(Aus.) a nickname for a Pacific Islander imported as a labourer.

1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 June 21/1: Fancy the Chow leading the proud Britisher in procession to celebrate a British victory! But the Chow mostly does that in Central Queensland, except when Tommy Tanna or Hakodada the Jap insists on taking front place.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 July 16/1: That was ever Tanna’s weakness. He always imagined £6 per annum was a fair wage, and then gave it away for 30s. worth of shoddy.
1903		‘Dads Wayback’ in Sun. Times (Sydney) 4 Jan. 9/4: ‘I’d go fer cannibals all ther time. Tommy Tanner is easy taught ter love his neighbor, pertickler ef ther neighbor is fat an’ juicy’.
1905		L. Becke Under Tropic Skies 278: I was going to the river with ‘Tommy Tanna’ to shoot some teal.
1909		‘Steele Rudd’ From Selection to City 88: And how they would wake up when they found themselves within an inch or two of being impaled as trophies on the handiwork of Tommy Tan.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Aug. 11/3: Some of the score or so companies that have been formed to plant rubber and things in Papua have just started reaping their first crop of trouble. ‘The supply of cheap labor is practically inexhaustible,’ the prospectuses said in effect. Tommy Kiki squats downs diligently and answers, ‘Is it?’ Why, Tommy asks, should he work.
1914		H.M. Vaughan Australasian Wander-Year 197: The name ‘Tommy Tanna’ is sometimes applied jocosely to the Australian Kanakas as a class.