For now, at least, the Triple J ‘Hottest 100’ – an institution that’s the cornerstone of many young Aussies‘ Australia Day celebrations – will continue to be broadcast on Australia Day (or Invasion Day, depending on your view).
The public broadcaster released a statement confirming it would remain after PEDESTRIAN.TV dropped an exclusive yarn early this morning, revealing that it’s been in “serious talks” to shift it to a less divisive day than January 26 due to growing public sentiment that it’s disrespectful to Indigenous Australians, who see it as a dark mark on our country’s history / a day of mourning.
“Are we changing the date of triple j’s Hottest 100?
Short answer: For now… No. In 2017, the Hottest 100 will be on January 26.
triple j’s Hottest 100 is a countdown of your favourite songs of the past year on a public holiday in January. It’s intended as a celebration of the year’s best music that everybody can enjoy.
We’ve been aware of, and have been a part of, the discussions around 26 January for some time. triple j is heavily involved in the growing dialogue around Indigenous recognition and perspectives on 26 January. This is really important to us.
We will continue to talk to Indigenous communities, artists and our audience about the date for the Hottest 100 in future years. In short: it’s under review.”
TLDR? The countdown will be on January 26, 2017, but the following year? Maybe not, pending internal review.
The topic of shifting the countdown has been discussed both internally and externally for years – with one Indigenous artist telling us they broached the subject with Triple J long ago – but it was only a few weeks ago that the politics and logistics of said switch were seriously discussed in closed-door meetings between ABC bigwigs.
It’s off the back of a growing movement to #ChangeTheDate; a
Change.org petition to support shifting the date has accrued close to 2,300 signatures, while its creator –
Melbourne bloke
Brendan Busch – recently announced he’d give a
Falls Festival camping ticket, valued at roughly $400, to anyone who
“can prove they got Triple J to announce they are changing the date.”
He also urged the campaign’s supporters to contact the broadcaster every day until he / someone gets a response that addresses what Busch claims to be more than 2,000 complaints lodged via the ABC website.
Triple J also announced it’s teamed back up with AIME, an Indigenous school mentoring program for which it raising $100,000 last year thanks to a special Hottest 100 partnership, for the Hottest 100 2016 – and says it’s committed to working with the organisation to “change the narrative of the day”.
“While we celebrate the year’s best music, we believe that together with a great organisation like AIME, triple j has a powerful opportunity and a responsibility to create a positive impact. In partnering with AIME we hope to raise money to empower Indigenous young people and also acknowledge and discuss all perspectives of 26 January.”
Our partners at AIME acknowledge the different perspectives of 26 January and want to work with us to change the narrative of the day.”
While it’s true that changing the date of the ‘Hottest 100’ would merely addresses a symptom of racism in Australia – as Indigenous rapper Briggs pointed out at BIGSOUND over the weekend – it would certainly be a positive step towards changing the way we perceive, and choose to spend our time, on Australia Day.
It’d also be a powerful statement of solidarity with First Nation peoples, for whom January 26 brings only painful memories of colonisation.
You can read Triple J’s statement in full
HERE, and have a listen to the opinions of a bunch of you good folk on the matter below.
Photo: Triple J.
