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The Sydney Morning Herald

smh.com.au

Weekend Edition

November 7-8, 2009

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Paola Totaro, News Review

THE PASSION OF PENELOPE

AMERICA’S ANGUISH News, Page 3

Good Weekend

WEEKEND EDITION NOVEMBER 7-8 , 2009

First published 1831

Climate war gets personal for Rudd

HOW TO THE CATCH DAMON A TIGER IDENTITY

News, PageSportsDay 2

Spectrum

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Million-dollar mum hailed as new J.K. Rowling SPIN CYCLE Nathan Rees finds time to enjoy a quiet ride as John Della Bosca’s critics tell him to jump on his own bike.

Phillip Coorey and Marian Wilkinson ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

KEVIN RUDD has launched a blistering attack on climate change sceptics and deniers in Australia and abroad, accusing them of a systematic campaign to sabotage global talks in Copenhagen and of being contemptuous towards the interests of the world’s children. An angry Prime Minister lashed out at politicians and commentators around the world, including US congressmen, and labelled his domestic political opponents cowards for repeatedly seeking reasons to delay the emissions trading scheme. With chances almost nil of a treaty being signed in Copenhagen to commit the world to a new greenhouse gas reduction regime, Mr Rudd said it was time to fight back against a powerful and dangerous minority. ‘‘By slowing the actions of each individual country, they aim to slowly drag global negotiations to a standstill,’’ he said. ‘‘By hampering decisive actions at a national level, they aim to make it impossible at an international level.’’ The Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, said he would not be drawn into a fight while negotiations continued over the emissions legislation to be debated later this month. He accused Mr Rudd of looking for a distraction from asylum seekers. Chances of an emissions agreement looked shaky yesterday when the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, said the Government would not accept ‘‘carte blanche’’ Coalition demands for billions of dollars in extra compensation to polluters. The budget update released on Monday forecast a $1.2 billion blow-out in the supposedly revenue-neutral scheme before any amendments were accepted. The Opposition spokesman on emissions trading, Ian Macfarlane, told the Herald the budget revision made things ‘‘a lot harder’’. Speaking at the Lowy Institute yesterday, Mr Rudd divided the opponents of climate change action into three groups – science sceptics, those who paid lip service to the science but opposed taking action, and the ‘‘wait for

INSIDE THE CLIMATE CHANGE LOBBY

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Big polluters are pulling no punches. News Review, Page 1 PLUS: News, Page 4

Thriller ... Rebecca James at home with her partner, Hilary Hudson, and Charlie, Oscar, Jack and Jimmy. There was a bidding war for the unknown writer’s novel. Photo: Paul Mathews others’’ group of blockers. He said all were ‘‘quite literally holding the world to ransom’’ by provoking fear campaigns in every country they could and blocking or delaying legislation where they could, ‘‘with the objective of slowing and, if possible, destroying the momentum towards a global deal’’. Among those caught in his tirade were John Boehner, the US Republican house minority leader, and the congressman John Shimkus. Mr Rudd, who is one of three world leaders charged with trying to generate momentum before the Copenhagen conference, which opens on December 7, said the ‘‘legion of climate change sceptics are active across the world and they happily play with our children’s future’’. Among the many domestic sceptics he singled out was the National Party senator Barnaby Joyce, whom he labelled ‘‘the fearmonger in chief’’. The Nationals, he said, were betraying the farmers who faced increased drought because of climate change. Senator Wong and Mr Rudd no longer expect a treaty at Copenhagen. Instead Mr Rudd called for an ‘‘ambitious agreement’’ and Senator Wong referred to an ‘‘effective international political agreement in Copenhagen’’. ‘‘When we leave Copenhagen this December, every detail of a final agreement may not be settled. But the nature and form of the agreement needs to be clear.’’

Janene Carey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

WITH their kitchen business on its last legs, Rebecca James, her partner, Hilary Hudson, and their four children were facing a bleak future. James, an unknown writer from Armidale, had already tasted failure. Her second novel had been rejected by every publisher in Australia and her first had earned her just $100. Then, the day after the business finally closed, an email arrived. The publisher Allen & Unwin was going to make an offer for Beautiful Malice, James’s thriller aimed at young teenagers. ‘‘I thought, omigod – the universe looked after us!” It was the start of a worldwide bidding war which has pushed

BEAUTIFUL MALICE, CHAPTER ONE I didn’t go to Alice’s funeral. I was pregnant at the time. Crazy and wild with grief. But it wasn’t Alice I grieved for. No. I hated Alice by then and was glad that she was dead. It was Alice who had ruined my life, taken the best thing I’d ever had and smashed it into a million unfixable pieces. I wasn’t crying for Alice but because of her. But now, four years later and a lifetime happier; finally settled into a comfortable and routine life with my daughter Sarah, (my sweet, oh-so-serious little Sarah) I sometimes wish that I had made it to Alice’s funeral, after all . . . advances on her manuscript past $1 million and led the The Wall Street Journal to wonder if she is the next J. K. Rowling. Set in Sydney, James’s novel depicts the relationship between

Katherine, a solitary girl whose sister was brutally murdered, and gorgeous fun-loving Alice, who befriends her. Alice’s influence is transformative, but as Katherine emerges from her grief, she dis-

covers her new best friend can be chilling as well as charming . The Wall Street Journal described how the book sparked a frenzy among publishers at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair and called it ‘‘a sexy psychological thriller’’, a ‘‘brilliantly plotted page-turner’’ and ‘‘Stephenie Meyer . . . without the vampires’’. It was a very different reception from that which greeted James’s first book, Nightswimming. It was published by a small American publisher in 2007 and netted the author $100. Beautiful Malice has been sold in more than 20 countries and is scheduled to be translated into at least 13 languages. Not bad for a book that was initially rejected by every literary agency in Australia.

“They said it wasn’t sellable as young adult fiction,” James said. The $1 million is scheduled to be paid in four instalments over the next couple of years. The British literary agency C&W will take a cut of 20 per cent. As yet, none of it has landed in James’s account, but she has treated herself to a new laptop and two Cavoodle puppies. She still feels overwhelmed by events. “It’s just the biggest dream come true, but there’s also another side. I wanted to make money, enough to be a writer, but I didn’t ever think I’d get so much attention . . . It’s quite bizarre.” Beautiful Malice will be published in Australia in May; international release dates are being finalised.

Exposed: the man controlling Stern Hu’s fate John Garnaut HERALD CORRESPONDENT ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

BEIJING: Stern Hu was accustomed to dealing with Chinese officials whose power far exceeded the titles on their business cards, as he worked his way through the fat bureaucracies competing for control of the nation’s $350 billion steel industry. But Hu probably never came across anyone quite like Wu Zhi-

ming, who is due to decide his fate within 10 days. Wu derives much of his power from the little-known fact that he is a relative of and local enforcer for the former president Jiang Zemin, who still holds

enormous political sway. Wu had little education and began as a Shanghai train attendant. His fortunes improved dramatically as Jiang consolidated his power in the 1990s. The powerful agencies he controls are due to commit Hu and his Rio Tinto iron ore sales team to trial, renew the investigation or perhaps set them free as a demonstration of the defrosting Australia-China relationship. Hu, an Australian citizen, and

M LI M IT ED TI E

E C N A R U S CAR IN FOR JUST

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three Chinese iron ore salesmen, Liu Caikui, Wang Yong and Ge Minqiang, have not seen any family, friends or colleagues since they were led away by Shanghai’s secret intelligence agency on Sunday, July 5. Hu’s family has had only occasional updates from a consular official or his lawyer. He is ‘‘very healthy’’ and ‘‘coping as well as could be hoped, a source close to the case said. Chinese authorities have fol-

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lowed legal procedures to the letter but neither the Australian Government nor the lawyers have been given any detail about what the Rio employees are alleged to have done. Wu’s power comes from his deceptively modest title as secretary of Shanghai’s Politics and Law Committee, which controls the city’s State Security Bureau. It tapped Stern Hu’s phones and arrested him and the Continued Page 6

Meanwhile, Liberal unity is punctured as emails surface linking party figures to a spoof Hitler video. NEWS, PAGE 7 SYDNEY CITY shower or two 18°-23° TOMORROW: chance shower 17°-24° LIVERPOOL shower or two 15°-25° TOMORROW: chance shower 15°-27° PENRITH shower or two 15°-26° TOMORROW: chance shower 15°-27° WOLLONGONG shower or two 17°-22° TOMORROW: chance shower 17°-23° DETAILS NEWS REVIEW PAGE 15 ISSN 0312-6315

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