Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 29 November.

Top stories

The federal government has activated the commonwealth disaster assistance plan in response to the Queensland bushfire emergency, allowing the the state to seek government help and financial assistance. Thousands of people across the state are being evacuated amid unprecedented catastrophic conditions. Eight thousand residents were urged to leave Gracemere in central Queensland, while further south, a massive bushfire destroyed homes and sent 1,500 people fleeing in Queensland’s Deepwater region. Early on Thursday, residents of two more communities – Campwin Beach and Sarina Beach south of Mackay – were woken by police and emergency text messages telling them they were in danger and to move to safety immediately.

The record-breaking heatwave in north Queensland will further increase above-average marine temperatures, heightening the risk of another coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef next year, scientists say. Dozens of record November temperatures have been recorded in the region, most this week along the reef coastline. The most remarkable was at Cairns, where consecutive days reached temperatures of 42.6C and 40.9C. The maximum temperature on Tuesday broke a November record that has stood since 1900 by 5.4C.

Scott Morrison will head for the G20 meeting in Argentina on Thursday minus Josh Frydenberg, and still minus a scheduled one-on-one meeting with Donald Trump. The treasurer was due to travel to the summit with the prime minister – a nod to the profound challenges of the week, which has included the defection to the crossbench of the former Victorian Liberal Julia Banks. But his place will now be taken by the finance minister, Mathias Cormann. With the government in intensifying difficulty, Malcolm Turnbull also weighed in late on Wednesday, reminding people that conservatives had sunk his government.

The Bank of England has issued a stark warning that a no-deal Brexit would be worse than the 2008 financial crisis and would spark an immediate economic crash, with GDP to fall by 8% and unemployment to rise to 7.5%. As Theresa May battles to win support in parliament for her Brexit deal, the central bank said failure to reach a deal with Brussels – with no transition period to a new trading relationship – would wreak havoc. House prices could fall by 30%, while interest rates could be forced to rise as inflation increased to 6.5%. In sharp contrast, the Bank said May’s Brexit deal had the potential to encourage a bounce for economic growth over the next five years, although only if Britain maintained the closest possible trading ties with the EU.

Indian authorities say they have no plans to recover the body of John Allen Chau, a US missionary who was killed by members of an isolated tribe on a remote island. An anthropologist involved in the case told the Guardian authorities had concluded that for now it was impossible to retrieve the remains of Chau without provoking further conflict with the Sentinelese, the tribe who populate North Sentinel Island. “We have decided not to disturb the Sentinelese,” said the anthropologist, who asked not to be named. “We have not tried to contact them for the past many days, and have decided not to continue trying.”

Au pairs who come to work in Australia are paid as cheaply as babysitters but often end up working like housekeepers, doing about 36 hours of work a week in what researchers say is another example of the exploitation of foreign workers in Australia. A study has surveyed almost 1,500 au pairs in Australia and the findings reveal an unsettling picture. Being an au pair can allow young women to enjoy an immersive cultural experience in which they live with a host family. But the survey revealed 60% find themselves doing not only childcare but cooking, cleaning and other chores. Almost one in 10, or 8%, reported doing more than 50 hours a week.

Sport

Australia’s selection for the upcoming India Tests paves the way for a gripping series, while the contrast between the hosts’ batting and bowling lineups could lead to plenty of summer intrigue and, dare it be said, a live Sydney Test.

Jürgen Klopp has backed Mohamed Salah to deliver when his Liverpool team take on the French champions Paris Saint-Germain in a crunch Champions League group game. Follow updates on the big game in the French capital with our live blog.

Thinking time

Amy Shark and Gurrumul were among the big winners of this year’s Aria awards at a star-studded ceremony held at the Star casino in Sydney. Nominated for nine awards in total, Shark took home three of the biggest, winning album of the year, best female artist and best pop release for her No 1 album, Love Monster. Her single I Said Hi picked up the Aria for producer of the year at an earlier event. “2018 has been a very amazing year for women in music – and in every industry around the world actually,” Shark said, accepting the award for best female artist. “I believe we all work just as hard as any male in music and I thank you all – both here and abroad – for believing that the sex of a human doesn’t define their worth or ability.”

In this week’s Life on the Breadline column, Amethyst DeWilde goes to a “buying groceries on a budget” session. “The facilitator continued gamely with her pre-prepared script: ‘Why throw something out when it can be reused? Leftovers isn’t a dirty word, you know.’ Leftovers? What leftovers? Doesn’t there have to be food actually left over for it to be defined as leftovers? She continued: ‘And that ONE coffee a day for $4.50 may only be $4.50, but over a year you’ve spent over $1,500!’ I sat in silence, stunned. Whaaaat? $4.50 on a coffee? Who can afford that?”

A US food critic has revealed how his power list of burgers led to the closure of the restaurant at No 1, and it’s an experience his fellow critics can relate to. Single reviews from influential writers are now going globally “viral” and have the power to make or break the future of entire restaurants – and their staff. The New York Times food critic Pete Wells says: “I generally just try to ride off into the sunset and never look over my shoulder … You almost have to, to write what you need to write.”

What’s he done now?

CNN has compiled the 21most revealing lines from Donald Trump’s “gut” Washington Post interview. At number 14: “They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” For more on Trump’s gut, read the Guardian explainer here.

Media roundup

The numbers of foreigners trying to obtain Australian partner visas by hitching their wagon to locals has doubled in the last two years, the Herald Sun reports on its front page. Malcolm Turnbull has been in regular contact with Kerryn Phelps and the Coalition is in concerned as the former PM continues to meddle from the sidelines, the Australian reports. And Australian spies could soon be permitted to shoot enemies who threaten their overseas missions, the ABC reports, with the Morrison government introducing new laws to parliament that would allow spies to use “reasonable force”, rather than the current restrictions of self-defence.

Coming up

A cross-party committee is scheduled to deliver its final report on options for Indigenous recognition in parliament.

The ANZ chief executive, Shayne Elliott, will continue giving evidence to the banking royal commission. The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chairman, Robert Johanson, will follow him.

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