David Campbell reveals what he would tell his 10-year-old self

If you told 10-year-old David Campbell that he and his dad Jimmy Barnes would one day be named as the 2024 Australian Fathers of the Year, he never would have believed you.

If you told 10-year-old David Campbell that he and his dad Jimmy Barnes would one day be named as the 2024 Australian Fathers of the Year, he never would have believed you.

Back then, he and his father had a strained relationship – Campbell had no idea his rock star “family friend” was in fact his father.

When asked what he would say to that scared little boy, Campbell pauses.

“I would tell him that it is going to be a really long road. It’s gonna be a tough road, but you are going to get through this together and it will be okay, and you’re gonna grow and get closer in a way that you can’t even imagine,” he said.

Jimmy Barnes and son David Campbell have been jointly named as the 2024 Australian Fathers of the Year.

“The way it feels today, how isolated you feel right now, is how surrounded by love you will be in four decades time,” he said.

Campbell says it’s a thought he never would have imagined at that age.

For Campbell, the tough times he had when his father was absent are forgivable and taught him important lessons.

“He taught me that what I needed to provide to my kids was to be there and to be with them as best I could at all times, even though I’m in the same industry, to try and be there as much as I can for them in those years,” he said. ‘

“There’s no blame here. It wasn’t a mistake what he did. He did what he had to do, but he then tried to correct that with his own children and with me, after he met me at 10,” said Campbell.

For Campbell, one of the most important parts of fatherhood, is leaning on the people around you.

“It takes hard work. It takes a lot of people pulling for you. Sometimes it’s not just you doing it. Sometimes it’s your wife or your partner or your daughter. It helps you, drag you back to the purpose of family. And that’s what I’ve learned,” he said.

“It helps you, drag you back to the purpose of family,” he said.