Barnes helps youth

Jimmy Barnes has recounted tales from his troubled youth hoping to steer some young Papua New Guineans away from joining Port Moresby's raskol crime gangs.

Barnes told a crowd of villagers he used to get into strife when he was growing up in a poor community in South Australia where there was little to do.

"The police used to be after me all the time," he said.

"But I got involved in music at a very early age. I began singing and entertaining and being in bands and that helped me give something back to my community. Music saved my life."