The arts are an essential industry. We need artists as much as we need accountants. We need dancers as much as we need doctors. We need comedians as much as we need civil engineers. We need filmmakers as much as we need financial planners. We need musicians as much as we need ministers.

From Sunday, 1 November, Three Blue Ducks is launching Golden Hour at The Farm Byron Bay, with freshly shucked oysters, live music and happy hour drinks every Sunday afternoon.

A 70-year-old woman has died in hospital after a three-vehicle crash at Suffolk Park last weekend, bringing the death toll to three.