Australian youth broadcaster Triple J has announced the Hottest 100 will be broadcast on Australia Day in 2017, after an unsuccessful campaign to have the date of its annual listener poll moved to show solidarity with Indigenous Australia.
In a statement issue on Tuesday afternoon, the station confirmed the broadcast event would be held on 26 January in 2017. “Future years are under review, and we’ll continue to talk to Indigenous communities, artists and our audience about this,” the statement read.
The Hottest 100 has been broadcast on 26 January for two decades, but a Change.org petition was launched in August to move it to “a less inflammatory and more inclusive date for first nations’ peoples”.
Australia Day marks the anniversary of the arrival of the British in Sydney in 1788, and is seen by many in the Indigenous community and beyond as an occasion that celebrates invasion.
On Tuesday morning, youth site Pedestrian revealed Triple J was considering changing the date of the broadcast, citing “multiple well-placed sources” who told of closed-door meetings and consultations in recent weeks, and an all-staff meeting in which staffers voiced “conflicting viewpoints”.
The station did not explain how it decided to retain the date, but highlighted the Hottest 100’s continued partnership with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME).
“By working with AIME, Triple J hopes to use this wide-reaching platform to create a meaningful connection between all communities, including Indigenous Australians.”
Last year Triple J raised more than $100,000 for the mentoring program.
“Australia Day represents pain and mourning for many Australians, including our first Australians, said AIME’s founder and CEO Jack Manning Bancroft. “It also represents immense pride for many Aussies, reflecting on how far we’ve come.”
The decision to retain the date of the Hottest 100 comes amid continued debate around 26 January as an appropriate date of celebration. Writing for Guardian Australia in 2014, Indigenous playwright and actor Nakkiah Lui explained why she protests each year: “Every Australia Day my heart is broken as I am reminded that in the eyes of many, I am not welcome on my own land.”
In August, Triple J launched January 26, a new single by AB Original, a collaboration between Indigenous hip-hop artists Briggs and Trials featuring Indigenous singer Dan Sultan, in which the three argued for the date to be changed.
“January 26 [the song] represents the annual frustration many Indigenous Australians feel from the farce of a holiday,” they said at the time.
Speaking with Music Feeds last week, Briggs said moving the date of the Hottest 100 is “definitely a conversation worth having ... with Triple J” and that moving the date “would be the right thing to do”.
On Tuesday the pair released a statement in response to the campaign to change the date of the Hottest 100: “AB Original appreciate the solidarity and leadership shown from both Triple J and other artists. We look forward to a day that we can celebrate, wholeheartedly, the great music industry event with our peers and punters alike.”
Dan Sultan declined to comment.
Triple J’s current affairs show Hack discussed the station’s decision from 5.30pm on Tuesday evening as the issue continued to be debated on social media.
Please don't move #Hottest100 because of a few angry rentacrowd people. That it's on a day of rest for everyone is what has made it great.
— Dixy (@dixylandinoz) September 13, 2016
Campaign kicked off to #changethedate of the #hottest100. I want to celebrate #tripleJ, but not on #invasionday. Listen to the people, #abc.
— Kendall L. (@LilinLouise) September 6, 2016
"Australia Day" on Jan 26th is offensive, yes. But how is having @triplej's #hottest100 on that day bad? It makes a bullshit holiday good.
— Shae Rhianna (@ShaeRhianna) September 13, 2016
Those poor Australia Day lovers having one of their traditions taken away from them, Indigenous people just wouldn't understand. #Hottest100
— Isaac Wilkinson (@isaac_wilkinson) September 13, 2016
Hack revealed the announcement was pushed forward after leaks to the media – but that staff and management had been discussing moving the date well before the petition was launched.
Presenter Tom Tilley interviewed Ollie Wards, the content director of Triple J, who said he has his “own personal views”, but defended the station’s decision.
“We don’t want to do anything that is rash or doesn’t consider all perspectives,” he said. “We have a day where we have millions of listeners listening, and there are opportunities to do something with a partnership with AIME ... It needs to be considered thoroughly. We’re not here to make a political decision, but we’re in a tough position because having it on 26 January is a political decision.
“It’s the worst that for a really important section of our audience can’t get involved on this day,” he said.
Briggs told Hack that changing the date would be a step forward. “I’m not saying that changing the date of the Hottest 100 is going to alleviate the trials and the oppression [of Indigenous people], but it would be a step forward, and a mark of solidarity, and a big move of the Australian music industry,” he said.
Nakkiah Lui also appeared on the program. She criticised Triple J’s decision and challenged Wards to explain what the ABC would lose by changing the date.
“The ABC’s our public broadcaster,” she said. “Their values are based around democracy and impartiality, but choosing to celebrate Australian music on a day where people are excluded and discriminated against based on their values, culture, race – that is a decision that’s heavily biased, and it’s exclusive, and it’s not democratic, and it’s against ABC values.”
Wards said he’s been “running around trying to consult as many people as I can”, including Indigenous artists, but that “in terms of consultation, this is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot more people to talk to”.
“The Hottest 100 for 2017 will be held on January 26 ... We’re going to keep reviewing it ... and if we can explain it to everybody – or even get better suggestions – we will look to move it in the future, if we can look to do it in the positive way.”
