As it happened: PM travels to Arnhem Land; Report on Israeli strike that killed Australian in Gaza released

The Australian sharemarket has suffered its largest single day drop since March last year, with more than $50 billion wiped off the bourse’s value on Friday after a plunge on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 2.1 per cent lower, dropping 171.50 points to 7943.20, a steep decline after it added 0.3 per cent and closed at a record high in the previous session.

All sectors were tracking lower, with consumer discretionary dropping most sharply, by 3 per cent, and real estate, information technology, financials and energy all shrinking more than 2 per cent. Utilities experienced the mildest losses, trading 0.1 per cent weaker.

Pilbara Minerals shrank the most of the large caps, down 6.5 per cent, followed by WiseTech (down 4.1 per cent), and Qantas, which dropped 4.1 per cent to lose all the gains it made on Wednesday after competitor Regional Express (Rex) announced it had entered voluntary administration.

Read the full market wrap here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just spoken at the opening ceremony of the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land.

Here are his short remarks courtesy of festival coverage on ABC television. They have been edited slightly for clarity:

Can I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land – the Gumatj people and the Yolngu people – and thank them for their care for this land for 60,000 years.

And [I] say, as prime minister of Australia, we all share an incredible honour and privilege of sharing this great island continent of ours with the oldest continuous culture on earth...

I will have much more to say tomorrow morning but today I want to thank my friend Djawa Yunupingu, [the chair of Yothu Yindu Foundation that hosts Garma], and the traditional owners ... and elders for the wonderful welcome I have received. I thank them for giving me the incredible honour of this gift that I will cherish.

When you walk into the prime minister’s residence of The Lodge, the first thing that every visitor sees is this gift given to me here, [on] my first visit as prime minister, by Yunupingu. It has a place of honour in the prime minister’s residents of Australia and it will stay there.

This is a great honour today and I thank you for the welcome, for me and everyone else who is here, and I look forward to spending once again a couple of wonderful days with you, celebrating language, culture, dance and hoping for the creation of a better future as we walk forward together. Thank you.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in the remote Northern Territory region of East Arnhem this afternoon as the Garma Festival, Australia’s largest Indigenous gathering, starts today.

The opening ceremony is currently being held in the community of Gulkala.

Malarndirri McCarthy, the NT senator who was appointed minister for Indigenous Australians on Sunday, is sitting next to the prime minister in the crowd as they watch ceremonial dancers perform.

Actor Jack Thompson briefly spoke at the start of the ceremony.

Here’s a little of what he said, edited for length and clarity:

In this ceremony, we will see something that is as ancient as it is wonderful. A ceremony and an item crafted from the very bones of the land. It is a ceremony that is as alive and vibrant today as it was 1000 years ago and more – a testament to the power of the philosophy of life and the way that the traditional people see life and loss. Because this ceremony is of the fire ... a power of the land renewing the people, [that] burns off grief and gives strength for the future. It honours a prime minister who was true to his word and put a question to the Australian people with sincerity and honesty.

The final line is a reference to Albanese’s commitment at last year’s festival to hold the Voice to parliament referendum. The Yes campaign to create an Indigenous body enshrined in the Constitution was ultimately defeated comfortably in October last year.

Read more about the Garma Festival and its importance here.

Shark fins were seized after ​five Indonesians were caught fishing illegally in Australian waters amid heightened scrutiny of the ability of authorities to patrol Australia’s northern maritime border.

Today, the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) revealed an illegal fishing boat was intercepted near New Year Island, approximately 294 kilometres north-east of Darwin, on July 7.

The crew onboard were arrested and pleaded guilty to offences against the Fisheries Management Act in a Darwin court on July 18.

Australian authorities seized the vessel along with 50 kilograms of shark fin, 80 kilograms of bait fish and a substantial quantity of fishing equipment.

“Each of the accused fishers pleaded guilty and were released on $1000 recognisance orders on an undertaking to be of good behaviour for a period of three years,” the authorities said in a joint statement.

“They have since been removed from Australia and returned to Indonesia.”

Rear Admiral Brett Sonter, a commander of the ABF and ADF joint taskforce that worked with fisheries authorities in the operation revealed today, said Maritime Border Command’s presence in Australia’s north was “persistent and enduring”.

“The seizure of fishing gear and disposal of vessels serves as a reminder to those seeking to exploit Australia’s marine resources that Australian authorities have zero tolerance for such illegal activity,” he said.

In June, this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed claims from multiple Border Force insiders that the agency’s $50 million Cape-class boats were beset with dangerous issues, undermining the eight-strong fleet’s mission to confront illegal fishing and people-smuggling in Australian waters.

Mercer Superannuation has been ordered to pay an $11.3 million penalty after it admitted to making misleading statements about the sustainable nature of some of its investment options.

On Friday, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy chair Sarah Court said it was the corporate regulator’s first greenwashing case brought before the Federal Court.

“It demonstrates the importance of making accurate ESG claims to investors and potential investors,” she said.

Greenwashing is when companies overstate or lie about their environmental credentials.

The court found Mercer made misleading statements on its website about seven “Sustainable Plus” investment options which were marketed as suitable for members who were “deeply committed to sustainability” because they excluded investments in companies involved in intensive fossil fuels such as thermal coal, as well as those involved in alcohol production and gambling.

However, the court found the “Sustainable Plus” options included investments in companies such as BHP, Whitehaven Coal, Budweiser Brewing Company and Tabcorp Holdings. The penalty comes after ASIC dragged the superannuation company to court in February last year.

The family of Zomi Frankcom, the aid worker killed in an Israeli airstike in Gaza, have released a statement saying the Australian report into the incident is an “important first step” and hopes it will be followed by further investigations.

A spokesperson for the family welcomed retired Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin’s report and said they were grateful for the detailed discussion they had with Binskin and DFAT personnel.

“We appreciate that Mr Binskin’s role had some limitations, but his report is an important first step. We hope it will be followed by further investigations in Israel regarding those responsible for this tragic event, followed by appropriate action,” the spokesperson said.

“The supportive comments of the Australian foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, and the Australian government, also mean a great deal to us.”

The family also asked for their privacy to be respected.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has just started speaking in Brisbane after the Fair Work Commission today filed an application in the Federal Court to put several branches of the CFMEU into administration.

Watt, who was only appointed to his role after a cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, said today’s move was “the strongest action ever taken by a government against an Australian union or employer group”.

He said the application, if successful, could remove about 270 individuals from office and would seize control of the finances of the CFMEU’s construction branches in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland.

“The Albanese government has full confidence in the general manager [of the Fair Work Commission] and of his choice of administrator, Mr Mark Irving, SC. Mr Irving is a highly experienced industrial barrister and corruption fighter,” Watt said.

“It is my intention to intervene to support the general manager’s application on behalf of the government. I have asked for advice from my department on the form that would take.”

The workplace relations minister urged the CFMEU to consent to the application, so change could be made quickly.

“If the union decides not to consent to the application, then we will be ready with legislation to enable the administrator to proceed without any barriers being imposed and without the years of litigation it would entail,” Watt said.

He emphasised today’s move was “not about reducing the ... conditions of workers in the construction industry”.

“It is hard, dangerous work and those workers deserve to be paid well, and those workers also deserve a union that they can be proud of,” he said.

“Today is the beginning of a new CFMEU, a CFMEU that focuses on its number one job: representing its members.”

The legal move to ensure a once-in-a-generation overhaul of the union follows a months-long investigation into the CFMEU by this masthead, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review, which has uncovered infiltration of the union by bikies and organised criminals, intimidation and allegations of corruption.