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.

Hundreds of handmade jewellery pieces have been stolen from a Bangalow artists’ collective, leaving some members without any work to sell ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period.