‘Proudest 100’ the Hot New Countdown
25 January 2016 at 7:31 pm
Comedian and actor Tom Ballard will unveil the 100 greatest achievements in Australian aid alongside the country’s most popular music event, the Triple J Hottest 100, as part of Australia Day.
The Campaign for Australian Aid has partnered with Ballard, who is also an ex-Triple J presenter, for the “Proudest 100”, an initiative to celebrate the positive impact of foreign aid.
As each song is announced in the Australia Day Hottest 100 countdown, Ballard will link it to a major aid achievement or statistic on a dedicated website and with the #proudest100 hashtag on social media.
“I absolutely love Hottest 100 Day… and I absolutely love the fact that Australian aid organisations bust their guts lending a hand in developing countries. So for me, the Proudest 100 is a real sweet two-for-one,” Ballard said.
“As we countdown everything from rap to hip hop to everything Tame Impala has ever released, let's also consider the great things Australian Aid does overseas and how we can, and should, do more.”
Campaign Director of the Campaign for Australian Aid, Tony Milne, said the initiative was an opportunity to tap into a popular event and generate more recognition for the contribution of foreign aid.
“This is a fun and topical way of bringing aid to the forefront by tying it into a much-loved event. The positive impact of Australian aid often goes unnoticed, but it's a core part of what it means to be Australian and is something we should all be proud of,” Milne said.
“Since we launched the campaign in February last year we’ve been very keen to do something around Australia Day, because the campaign is all about celebrating the achievements of Australian aid.”
Milne said the links between the voter-selected songs and the aid achievements would be “funny, cheeky or tangential”.
He said Happy Song by Bring Me The Horizon, expected to make it into the 100, was certified gold in Australia, having sold 35,000 copies. That statistic will then be linked to the number of HIV- medication that Australia has provided.
Despite the light-heartedness of the event, Milne said the more serious issues facing foreign aid funding in Australia will not be ignored.
“The more disappointing side of this incredible achievement that we have around Australian aid is that we’ve had $11 billion of cuts to the Australian aid program, and that means all these amazing achievements some of them will be at risk,” he said.
“The Government’s already announced there’s a further $200 million cut still to go, that cut hasn't been implemented yet, so we’re still hopeful that we might be able to prevent that $200 million cut going ahead.
“We’re definitely calling on the government to not go ahead with that final cut, it’s that final cut that will take us to the lowest level of Australian aid since records began.”
The Campaign for Australian Aid is a joint initiative of the Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge coalitions, representing more than 65 aid and development organisations.
