Okay, so I got a bit behind on listening to Hack. I was listening to a show from about a week ago on my way to work today, and something on there really really pissed me off.

First a value statement. I am a liberal. I have always supported the liberal party, I have electioneered for them, and I was even a young-lib for a short period of time. That being said, I don't always agree with all statements and policies that are raised by the party.

Now, on with my rant...

Recently the Qld Young Libs had a conference, where a member put forward a motion to lobby the government to privatise Triple J. His argument, was that the government would not be able to sustain the funding required to continue to grow JJJ. Mate, I have one word for you. 'WANKER'. Seriously that is what I think of you.

Privatising triple J is the worst idea I have heard in a long time. Advertising would ruin triple J. They would loose the editorial control, and freedom they operate under.

When these points were put to him, he responded with "well the model with which we privatise triple J, would need to be debated, but that does not need to be discussed now". Good god, if you don't have a plan for how you can preserve the culture that exists, then we should not be trying to change it. IF! you can come out with a rational plan on how to privatise JJJ, AND retain the culture and editorial freedom, then people might be more willing to listen. (Note, we will still call you a wanker however).

I now live in a country that has nothing but commercial radio (unless I buy a satellite radio). The commercial stations suck. You get about 3 songs an hour, the rest is back-announcing and adverts. The songs are censored, not just what I would call the main forms of swearing, but words like damn & bitch are silenced. The song selection is CRAP, the playlist never changes, so I can switch on the radio and almost predict the next three songs I am going to hear.

They also can't talk about anything of substance, or use real humor because they need to cater for the lowest common denominator. Instead you are stuck with pseudo-comedians who make jokes about farting in a jar and tricking a friend into smelling it (unfortunatly, I am serious about this). THIS IS NOT FUNNY!

So you want to do that to TripleJ as well ?

You want to kill off the up and coming australian musicians that triple J would normally foster, because I bet they are the first to go when they are no longer financially viable. What would happen to people like Richard Kingsmill and Robbie Buck ?

You want to kill off decent, youth orientated, current affairs, because you might offend potential advertisers.

You want to kill off up and coming australian comedians? I bet people like Mikey Robbins, Sandy, Adam & Will, Jay & the doctor, Chris & Craig (and to a MUCH lesser extent Merrik & Rosso), would never have gotten a gig on other radio stations initially, because they go against the norm. However they are all BRILLIANT announcers.

While I may not agree with everything I hear on JJJ, I am really glad they are there, because they do so much good for australian music/commedy/culture.

I'm going to close with a parapharsed quote from Robby Buck, which I feel sums up what would happen to triple J if this plan was to go ahead. While discussing the idea of privatisation, he said "we would be inundated with music from multinational corporations, that is supposed to sooth your soul, but instead, corrupts your mind".