Suspend your cynicism on Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change
Without question, they will want commitment from Gillard that their 12 months of deliberations will generate sustained reform on energy and climate policy.
Citizens’ assembly on climate may turn the heat on Gillard, The Age, Dr Carolyn Hendriks, 26 July 2010, Such forums tend to cut through the politicking and demand action.July 26, 2010 “…….Suspend your cynicism for one moment and consider what this citizens’ assembly might potentially offer. Citizens’ assemblies are tools for eliciting considered policy advice from informed citizens……….What citizens’ assemblies bring to democracy is deliberation. Issues are placed under scrutiny not by experts and politicians but by ordinary citizens…….
Citizens’ assemblies have been conducted in Australia and elsewhere on highly complex issues policies on genetically modified foods, electoral reform, and even constitutional change. These experiences reveal that when ordinary people are given the opportunity and information to contribute to complex policy issues, they rise to the occasion.
Gillard’s proposed citizen assembly provides the opportunity for everyday Australians to contribute to climate change debate. The technical and political nature of the debate thus far has left most of us excluded from policy discussions and decisions. The central preoccupation for makers of climate policy has been on accommodating the demands of competing lobby groups, and then trying to justify resulting policy instruments to the rest of us…….
the citizens’ assembly offers an deliberative and democratic opportunity for Australia…………
Citizens will no doubt question the motives behind the assembly and be sceptical about attempts to misuse or manufacture their recommendations. They will also want to know how their contributions will feed into other processes, including the expert-based Climate Change Commission and, of course, decisions made in Parliament.
Without question, they will want commitment from Gillard that their 12 months of deliberations will generate sustained reform on energy and climate policy.
No comments yet.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
Leave a comment