Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 30 November.

Top stories

Bill Shorten has bookended a horror parliamentary week for the Morrison government with a full-throated parliamentary onslaught, declaring the parliament is “part-time under this prime minister, but the civil war in the Liberal party is a full-time occupation”. When a government MP was ejected from the chamber during a rowdy question time, Labor capitalised on the Coalition’s minority position with a snap suspension of standing orders. Shorten grabbed the opportunity to declare his opponents had given up on governing and were now only talking “to themselves about themselves, in conservative echo chambers”.

Referencing electoral drubbings for the Coalition, Shorten said the Liberals now “pontificate about this mythical rightwing base and … write off whole communities as irrelevant”. Morrison, who departed for the G20 meeting in Argentina immediately after question time, attempted to repel the political assault by pointing to the government’s record in economic management.

Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has admitted lying to Congress over a building project in Russia, revealing that the now-president continued trying to develop a Trump tower in Moscow months into the 2016 presidential campaign. The development signalled legal peril for Trump, whose presidency has been besieged by special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Cohen told the inquiry he had made false statements to hinder the investigation and to protect Trump, who was identified in court as “Individual 1”. Cohen did not say if Trump directed him to lie but said he did so out of loyalty.

Thousands of threatened flying foxes have dropped dead owing to heat stress brought on by extreme temperatures in far north Queensland this week. Conservationists and wildlife volunteers estimate more than 4,000 spectacled flying foxes have perished during the record heatwave, which has seen temperatures in Cairns reach an all-time high of 42.6C. Volunteer carers say it is the first time the species has suffered mass deaths because of extreme heat. “It’s never had a heat-stress event before because it’s in the tropics,” said Maree Treadwell Kerr, a wildlife carer and president of the Bats and Tree Society of Cairns. “It’s an estimate, but we’ve probably lost more than 10% in the past week.”

A photograph believed for more than 50 years to have been a portrait of a 13-year-old Vincent van Gogh is actually one of his brother Theo, aged 15. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam revealed the results of research into a photograph that has appeared in countless books and catalogues, always billed as the earliest known photograph of Van Gogh. The revelation means that the only known photograph of the artist is one taken when he was 19. Axel Rüger, the director of the Van Gogh Museum, said the discovery after months of investigations means “that we have rid ourselves of an illusion”.

Labor has pledged to spend $28m on the music industry if the party wins government at the next election. The policy, which will be announced today by Tony Burke, the shadow arts minister, comes just two weeks after a NSW parliamentary committee found that live music in Australia’s most populous state was in crisis. That report also recommended that the state government alone invest at least $35m into the industry over four years.

Sport

Amid this week’s outcry about the cuts in funding to certain Olympic sports, notably athletics and gymnastics, the reality is that there is only so much money to go around, with Sports Australia basing their investments on the probability of medals in Tokyo.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, newly crowned world chess champion Magnus Carlsen says had he lost he might never have competed again. “It is going to be very difficult,” the Norwegian says of his next moves. “These games show that I have not been able to take all my chances. I need to work on that to be even sharper the next time.”

Thinking time

Why is Australia so keen to reward films full of staggering misogyny? Andy Hazel – a member of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts – argues that the industry’s passion projects are overwhelmingly produced by men and overwhelmingly tell stories that debase women. “None of this is to say that Australian cinema needs to be censored, that their male characters don’t get a rough time too or that the violence isn’t decried,” Hazel argues. “Violence is often necessary to tell a compelling story about ice addiction, organised crime or a serial killer. But that there are so many dead and debased women in this year’s Aacta longlist of feature films suggests writers are bereft of original ideas and film funding organisations are rewarding them.”

In this week’s instalment of her diary, Brigid Delaney enters a cave 20 metres underground in Turkey. It brings back memories of a terrible lift experience in Brussels years before, then she starts to panic. “We were all pressed extremely close which was fine for the one minute we were planning to be in the lift – but hours? The tops of heads became intimate with armpits. Hipbones nestled into waists. We took turns crouching on the ground to get oxygen.”

How would you react if your manager started sending you inappropriate texts late at night – or invited you back to his hotel room on a work trip? In episode two of Witch Hunt, we examine Australian workplaces and how they treat accusations of sexual harassment. Why does Australian legislation treat harassment differently to other breaches of employment law? Where can you go to for advice or help? And can you trust your HR department?

What’s he done now?

Trump has cancelled a planned meeting with Vladmir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina to discuss Russia’s seizing of Ukrainian ships. The US president said on Twitter it would be best to cancel as “the ships and sailors have not been returned”.

Media roundup

The outgoing Northern Land Council chief executive has been told to immediately vacate his position, the NT News reports, after months of power struggles. The Australian splashes with a looming “coal boom” after Adani committed to beginning construction of its controversial Queensland mine by Christmas. And Justin Milne and Michelle Guthrie have stepped up their attacks on each other, the ABC reports.

Coming up

Scott Morrison will arrive at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Senate inquiry into the ABC’s leadership turmoil will hear from Justin Milne and Michelle Guthrie. Follow all the developments from 8.30am with our live blog.

Supporting the Guardian

We’d like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you.

Sign up

If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.