Australia has seen a deep division in opinion in search of a carbon pricing mechanism. While concepts of carbon taxation and emission trading have comparable public support, climate scepticism is infuencing the debates in political and public spheres in downplaying the need for carbon pricing. Public deliberation is a possible engagement option to address the conflict inherent in climate policy preferences. This research explores the way that a deliberative forum involving twenty-four Australians promoted effective communication between participants through which conflict between policy preferences became more tangible. While the forum did not eliminate disagreement in preferences in the choice of carbon pricing mechanisms, participants reached consensus on fundamental principles such as the need for trusted sources of information, trusted governance procedures, and transparent accountability by appropriate institutions. Shared political expectations encouraged dialogue and cooperation in discussions by enhancing reciprocal understanding. Two sceptical participants who originally had strong opinions different from the rest of the group managed to find common ground. Public deliberative forums that are conducive to reciprocal communication are able to provide a mechanism for joint problem-solving processes that are less adversarial and more responsive to the range of people's preferences.
AlexanderK S, 2010, “Community preferences for uses of stormwater after treatment and storage in aquifers in South Australia”, conference paper presented to ‘Water Reuse and Desalination: Water Scarcity Solutions for the 21st Century’, 15–17 November, Sydney, https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP113751&dsid=DS2
2.
AlexanderK SRyanAMeashamT G, 2012, “Managed retreat of coastal communities: Understanding responses to projected sea level rise”Journal of Environmental Planning and Management55409–433
3.
AmundsenHBerglundFWestskogH, 2010, “Overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation—a question of multilevel governance?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy28276–289
4.
BurgessJHarrisonC MLimbM, 1988, “People, parks and the urban green: A study of popular meanings and values for open spaces in the city”Urban Studies25455–473
5.
CarsonR TLouviereJ JWeiE, 2010, “Alternative Australian climate change plans: The public's views”Energy Policy38902–911
6.
ChambersS, 2009, “Rhetoric and the public sphere: Has deliberative democracy abandoned mass democracy?”Political Theory37323–350
CurranG, 2009, “Ecological modernisation and climate change in Australia”Environmental Politics18201–217
9.
DaviesGBurgessJ, 2004, “Challenging the ‘view from nowhere’: Citizen reflections on specialist expertise in a deliberative process”Health and Place10349–361
10.
Department of Climate Change, 2008Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia's Low Pollution Future (Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra)
11.
Department of Climate Change, 2009National Carbon Offset Standard (Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra)
12.
DryzekJ S, 2000Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
13.
DryzekJ S, 2009, “Democratization as deliberative capacity building”Comparative Political Studies421379–1402
14.
DryzekJ S, 2010Foundations and Frontiers of Deliberative Governance (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
15.
DryzekJ SNiemeyerS, 2006, “Reconciling pluralism and consensus as political ideals”American Journal of Political Science50634–649
16.
FewRBrownKTompkinsE L, 2007, “Public participation and climate change adaptation: Avoiding the illusion of inclusion”Climate Policy746–59
17.
FlemingAVanclayF, 2009, “Discourses of climate change: Understanding farmer resistance”, in Climate Change in Regional Australia: Social Learning and Adaptation Eds MartinJRogersMWinterC (Victoria Universities Regional Research Network Press, Ballarat) pp 155–176
18.
GoodinR ENiemeyerS J, 2003, “When does deliberation begin? Internal reflection versus public discussion in deliberative democracy”Political Studies51627–649
19.
GutmannAThompsonD, 1996Democracy and Disagreement (Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA)
20.
HansonF, 2010The Lowy Institute Poll 2010Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney
21.
Hartz-KarpJAndersonPGastiJFelicettiA, 2010, “The Australian citizens' parliament: Forging shared identity through public deliberation”Journal of Public Affairs10353–371
22.
HendriksC MDryzekJHunoldC, 2007, “Turning up the heat: Partnership in deliberative innovation”Political Studies55362–383
23.
HobsonKNiemeyerS, 2011, “Public responses to climate change: The role of deliberation in building capacity for adaptive action”Global Environmental Change21957–971
24.
HulmeM, 2009Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity (Cambridge University Press, New York)
25.
HumphreysJ, 2007Exploring a Carbon Tax for AustraliaThe Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney
26.
JotzoFBetzR, 2009, “Australia's emissions trading scheme: Opportunities and obstacles for linking”Climate Policy9402–414
27.
KrauseR M, 2011, “Symbolic or substantive policy? Measuring the extent of local commitment to climate protection”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy2946–62
28.
LennoxJProctorWRussellS, 2011, “Structuring stakeholder participation in New Zealand's water resource governance”Ecological Economics701381–1394
29.
LevistonZWalkerI A, 2010Baseline Survey of Australian Attitudes to Climate Change: Preliminary ReportClimate Adaptation National Research Flagship, CSIRO, Canberra
30.
LiuSProctorWCookD, 2010, “Using an integrated fuzzy set and deliberative multi-criteria evaluation approach to facilitate decision-making in invasive species management”Ecological Economics692374–2382
31.
LoA Y, 2011a, “Analysis and democracy: The antecedents of the deliberative approach of ecosystems valuation”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy29958–974
32.
LoA Y, 2011bDeliberative Monetary Valuation as a Political—Economic Methodology: Exploring the Prospect for Value Pluralism with a Case Study on Australian Climate Change Policyunpublished PhD thesis, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra
33.
LoA Y, 2013, “Agreeing to pay under value disagreement: Reconceptualizing preference transformation in terms of plurism with evidence from small-group deliberations on climate change”Ecological Economics8784–94
34.
McCrumGBlackstockKMatthewsKRivingtonMMillerDBuchanK, 2009, “Adapting to climate change in land management: The role of deliberative workshops in enhancing social learning”Environmental Policy and Governance19413–426
35.
MarksJ S, 2006, “Taking the public seriously: The case of potable and non-potable reuse”Desalination187137–147
36.
MoserS CDillingL, 2007, “Toward the social tipping point: Creating a climate for change”, in Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change Eds MoserS CDillingL (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 491–516
37.
National Research Council, 2008Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making (National Academies Press, Washington, DC)
38.
NerlichB, 2010, “‘Climategate’: Paradoxical metaphors and political paralysis”Environmental Values19419–422
39.
NiemeyerS, 2004, “Deliberation in the wilderness: Displacing symbolic politics”Environmental Politics13347–372
40.
NiemeyerS, 2011, “The emancipatory effect of deliberation: Empirical lessons from mini-publics”Politics and Society39103–140
41.
O'NeillJ, 2007Markets, Deliberation and Environment (Routledge, London)
42.
OreskesNConwayE M, 2010Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (Bloomsbury Press, New York)
43.
OsberghausDDannenbergAMennelTSturmB, 2010, “The role of the government in adaptation to climate change”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy28834–850
44.
PietschJMcAllisterI, 2010, “‘A diabolical challenge’: Public opinion and climate change policy in Australia”Environmental Politics19217–236
45.
PittD, 2010, “The impact of internal and external characteristics on the adoption of climate mitigation policies by US municipalities”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy28851–871
46.
RennO, 2006, “Participatory processes for designing environmental policies”Land Use Policy2334–43
SmithG, 2003Deliberative Democracy and the Environment (Routledge, London)
49.
SomaKVatnA, 2010, “Is there anything like a citizen? A descriptive analysis of instituting a citizen's role to represent social values at the municipal level”Environmental Policy and Governance2030–43
50.
SpashC L, 2010, “The brave new world of carbon trading”New Political Economy15169–195
51.
SpashC LLoA Y, 2012, “Australia's carbon tax: A sheep in wolf's clothing?”The Economic and Labour Relations Review2367–86
52.
StangelliniP S L, 2010, “Stakeholder involvement in water management; the role of the stakeholder analysis within participatory processes”Water Policy12675–694
53.
StirlingA, 2006, “Analysis, participation and power: Justification and closure in participatory multi-criteria analysis”Land Use Policy2395–107
