Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 27 November.

Top stories

Australia’s tobacco, gambling and alcohol industries have donated $14m to the major political parties, targeting their gifts during critical policy debates or immediately before elections, a new study has found. The research, published in the Drug and Alcohol Review, a peer-reviewed medical journal, analysed publicly available donations to federal and state parties in the 10 years to June 2015, not including gifts below the then $12,800 disclosure threshold. It found that the tobacco industry donated $1,926,679 in the decade to June 2015, the alcohol industry donated $7,650,858, and the gambling industry gave $2,871,609. The $14m figure includes donations from major supermarket chains, which gave about $1,663,895.



Donations increased during debates that threatened to financially impact the industries. Donations to the Labor government increased in 2008 and 2009, during the alcopops tax debate. Donations from the gambling industry to Labor peaked in 2008 and 2009 during a major inquiry into gambling. The Liberals were clearly the biggest recipient of donations from the industries; Labor refused to accept money from big tobacco for the entire 10-year period.

A rare cancer has been linked to breast implants used by millions of women worldwide. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma forms in the scar capsule around the implant and normally begins with pain and swelling in the breast. If left untreated, ALCL can spread throughout the body and become life-threatening. Australia’s health watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has reported 72 cases of ALCL. After the PIP scandal in which a French firm fraudulently sold hundreds of thousands of implants containing industrial-grade silicone, Australia set up a national breast devices database, and its custodian, Prof John McNeil, says he is focussed on identifying cases of ALCL. But he says experts struggle to get information quickly enough. The Implant Files, a global investigation involving the Guardian, has also found that huge numbers of women are missing from clinical trials designed to monitor safety; the use of non-clinical-grade materials by leading manufacturers, according to evidence found by Dutch investigators; and reports of ruptured implants, pain, disfigurement, allergic reactions and other symptoms.

Russia has accused Kiev of naval “provocation” in the Kerch Strait. Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have escalated after Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels and their crews in the water separating Crimea from the Russian mainland. The Russian foreign ministry accused Kiev of coordinating with the US and the EU in a “planned provocation” aimed at securing further anti-Moscow sanctions as the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, asked parliament to impose martial law. The UN security council prepared to meet later on Monday to discuss the clashes and Nato joined a chorus of western demands for the release of the vessels and sailors, several of whom were injured, and calling for restraint.

NSW Liberals are distancing themselves from the Victorian Liberal party and the federal Coalition in the wake of the Victorian state election loss, with a senior minister declaring “we are not them” and another MP labelling the Victorian Liberals’ campaign “manifestly inadequate”. After the Victorian Labor government’s comprehensive victory, attention turned to what the result could mean for NSW, where the Liberal state government will go to the polls seeking a third term next March. In interviews with half a dozen state government ministers, MPs and senior staff from both moderate and conservative camps on Monday, the consensus was that the party in NSW had less to fear from the Victorian result than the federal government. As one MP put it, the government in NSW has done a better job of avoiding “the culture wars bullshit” than its counterparts elsewhere. And on Q&A on Monday night, Liberal senator Eric Abetz played down the role federal government leadership turmoil may have played in the Victorian election result and rejected criticism of party hardliners.

“What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools.” Scott Morrison has been labelled “out of touch” for condemning a national student strike to protest against government inaction on climate change. Imploring children to stay in class rather than protesting against things that “can be dealt with outside of school”, the prime minister told parliament on Monday: “We do not support our schools being turned into parliaments.” Today Guardian Australia is asking Young Australians, “what do you think?” via My Climate Questions – a live online Q&A for school students. They can share thoughts, discuss the future, and ask leading experts the questions they want answered – whether they are striking or not. My Climate Questions will run from 4pm to 6.30pm AEDT. But first, meet the Swedish 15-year-old Greta Thunberg: “Every Friday, I miss classes to sit outside my country’s parliament. I will continue to do so until leaders come into line with the Paris agreement.” She says Australian students should be striking too.

Sport

The wheelchair tennis great Dylan Alcott likes to say he has seven jobs. The release of his autobiography means “bestselling author” may soon qualify as number eight.

Ana Carrasco is the first woman to become a world champion motorbike rider. After her World Supersport 300 title win, she speaks to the Guardian’s Donald McRae about how she got her start, her deepest ambition, and the fact that “Women don’t just have to be grid girls – they can race too.”

Thinking time

Dance Rites, Australia’s First Nations dance competition, was held at the weekend on the Sydney Opera House forecourt. Dance groups from across Australia and around the world took part in the two-day festival of culture. Formerly known as Tubowgule, Bennelong Point has been a meeting place for ritual celebration and dance for tens of thousands of years.

When I reached the migrant caravan, they had been traveling for two weeks, covering almost 1,000km. Leaving from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, one of the deadliest cities on Earth, they had set out over mountains, through forest and rivers. Most days, afternoon rains soaked their belongings. Ants bit them while they slept. But people also displayed extraordinary kindness. Farmers greeted them on the roads with sliced oranges and bags of water. A plate of beans appeared when their children were crying, a pickup was offered when their legs could go no further. As US officials say they have arrested 42 migrants on the American side of the border, here’s what Trump’s caravan “invasion” really looked like.

After a seven-month journey, Nasa’s InSight probe is about to reach Mars. If touchdown goes to plan, it will embark on an unprecedented mission to map the planet’s interior. Follow the entry, descent and landing – what Nasa has called its “seven minutes of terror” – live here.

Media roundup

Scott Morrison has two words for Bill Shorten before the federal elections, the Australian reveals: “It’s personal”. The Canberra Times says there has been a fall in corruption investigations despite nearly 4,400 bureaucrats reporting seeing what they believed was corruption in a government agency. Julie Bishop says the government should do a national energy guarantee deal with Labor, the Australia Financial Review reports.

Coming up

The federal court will be asked to approve Nine’s takeover of Fairfax Media.

The NAB chairman, Ken Henry, will continue giving evidence to final banking royal commission hearing before AMP’s acting chief executive, Mike Wilkins, appears.

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.