There’s a very reasonable movement suggesting that perhaps triple j should move the date of the Hottest 100 from Australia Day to a less murderous, mournful day of the year.

A few months ago, after the pressure to change the date intensified, triple j released a statement saying they had decided to keep airing the Hottest 100 on January 26, but acknowledged that “future years are under review and we’ll continue to talk to Indigenous communities, artists and our audience about this.”

They also used the same press release to announce the Hottest 100 is – “once again” – partnering with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience; pointing to the $100,000-plus triple j listeners raised for the program in 2015.

This partnership with AIME is obviously a great thing – but many listeners feel it isn’t enough, and to that end, there are efforts to protest the date of the Hottest 100, by voting for A.B. Original’s powerful protest song ‘January 26’ in the countdown.

A Facebook event explains that:

“By voting for a song which is both an explanation and rejection of the idea of January 26 as a day of celebration… we have the ability to send a message to triple j. Let’s end the division and change the date.”

Another interesting upside – should this protest gain legs – is the potential for many, many more people to listen to this song, within the specific context of this triple j protest, and gain a larger understand of why celebrating Australia Day on January 26 is terrible.

The lyrics specifically protest Australia Day celebrations: “Fuck celebrating days made of misery, while Aus. still got the black history. And that shirt will get you banned from the parliament; if you ain’t having a conversation, well then we starting it.”

As the event page shrewdly notes, many people wouldn’t actively go to a party on Australia Day, if not for the countdown. “Thousands of people across the country celebrate on a day which is one of mourning for Australia’s first people.”

Of all the attempts to manipulate Hottest 100 voting in order to get a song to #1, this is clearly the most important we’ve seen. Listen to ‘January 26’ below.

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