The Government Is Extremely Mad Triple J Changed The Date Of The Hottest 100
Wait, we thought they loved voluntary surveys?
This afternoon triple j announced that as of next year the Hottest 100 would no longer be held on Australia Day. Instead, the countdown would be held on the fourth weekend in January, which means that in 2018 it will land on the 27th.
The move is a long time coming and follows a public campaign backed by prominent Indigenous artists and ex-triple j presenters. The public reaction has so far been pretty positive, in line with a survey conducted by triple j that showed 60 percent of listeners backed the move. But this afternoon the communications minister, Mitch Fifield, issued a scathing statement slamming the ABC for the date change.
“I am bewildered by the ABC’s decision to move the Hottest 100 from Australia Day,” Fifield said. “The ABC shouldn’t be buying into this debate. Australia Day is our national day.”
It’s a surprising statement from Fifield given how much the government appears to love voluntary surveys, am I right!
But seriously, on the same day that we got confirmation the NBN is being hit with massive delays you would think the Minister for Communications would have more important things to do than starting up a culture war about a music countdown.
Another Liberal senator, James McGrath, has responded to triple j’s decision in the weirdest way possible. In a tweet, McGrath compared triple j’s controversial decision to ban Taylor Swift from the Hottest 100 to the decision to change the date.
So let me get this right @triplej will ban @taylorswift13 from their Top 100 because of a campaign but will shift the date of the Top 100 because of a campaign. Haters gonna hate: https://t.co/Isc77eX7Qb #auspol #triplej
— James McGrath (@JamesMcGrathLNP) November 27, 2017
It’s a ludicrous comparison on a number of fronts, but it seems absurdly offensive to compare calls from Indigenous Australians to change the date Australia Day is celebrated on because of this country’s history of genocide and colonisation to a campaign to get Taylor Swift in the Hottest 100.
So far Fifield and McGrath are the only government MPs to respond to the announcement, but judging by past performance it’s likely we’ll see a bunch of conservative politicians jumping up and down about ‘political correctness gone mad’, which, funnily enough, is exactly what the Young Liberals have said.
In a statement their federal president, Aiden Depiazzi, said “Australia Day is a proud day of celebration for who we are as a nation, while boldly looking to the future. This poor decision from ABC management shows that political correctness has taken hold at the expense of common sense.”
I can’t wait for the unhinging.