Afternoon Update: Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister; unemployment rate jumps; and taking a Tesla for a swim

Want to get this in your inbox every weekday? Sign up for the Afternoon Update here, and start your day with our Morning Mail newsletter. Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has condemned the actions of a far-right Israeli minister who posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured while trying to sail an aid flotilla to Gaza. Wong joined international condemnation of the footage, which shows Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waving an Israeli flag and mocking and taunting the detainees, including shouting “the people of Israel live” in the face of one bound man. Among the flotilla detainees were 11 Australian activists who were taken into custody by Israeli forces off the coast of Cyprus earlier this week, but it is not known if they were present in Ben-Gvir’s video. In a statement, Wong said “the images we have seen are shocking and unacceptable”. “We condemn the actions of Israeli minister Ben-Gvir – who Australia has sanctioned – and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained,” Wong said on Thursday morning. “I have asked Australia’s ambassador to Israel to make representations to Israel, reiterating our cal