Global Citizen Is Coming to Australia

Global Citizen will mobilise Melbourne next month.

“We are delighted to be providing a closing performance for Global Citizen, who are bringing together talented and passionate young advocates and innovators to help solve the most urgent problems facing all of us…equity and climate,” comments Neil Finn, frontman of Crowded House.

The ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted folk-rock legends will deliver an “intimate evening of music and storytelling,” ahead of the May 31 release of Gravity Stairs, their eighth studio album.

“Who knows from what distant corners brilliant ideas might come from. Young people’s amazing potential is sometimes hidden from view,” Finn continues.

“We want to be there to help bring it into the light.”

The summit will “drive action on the climate crisis, gender inequity, innovations in health systems and fighting food insecurity,” reads a statement, as Australia hosts ASEAN leaders in the Victorian capital.

Though it’s the first time Global Citizen NOW has descended on Australia, the campaign has a strong Aussie connection.

It’s the brainchild of founder and CEO Hugh Evans, the Australia-born philanthropist who, in his pre-teen years, identified wrongs in the world and set about solving them.

Global Citizen ambassadors include Hugh Jackman and former prime minister Julia Gillard.

“We’re thrilled to bring Global Citizen back to Australia for the first ever international edition of Global Citizen NOW, where young innovators will take their place alongside leaders in policy, culture, philanthropy and business to drive impactful, sustainable change and address the global challenges shaping tomorrow,” said Global Citizen in a statement.

The Asia-Pacific region “sits at the epicentre of some of the world’s most pressing issues; but young people are not the passive inheritors of these challenges,” the message continues, “they are powerful innovators playing a vital role in solving them, with much to teach the rest of the world. We look forward to a dynamic few days that will shift the future of the region.”

Additional performers will be announced in the coming days for Global Citizen Nights, tickets for which can be earned by taking action on the Global Citizen app and at globalcitizen.org/nights.