Finding meaning and political strategy in narratives about Australia’s carbon price: A reply to Newman

Abstract

This commentary replies to Joshua Newman's article and ‘counter narrative’ about the Rudd government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), shelved in 2010. Newman argues that other analyses of the CPRS amount to a ‘prevailing narrative’ that Labor should have pursued an alliance with the Greens and independents for stronger climate mitigation policy rather than bipartisan Coalition support in parliament. His narrower empirical focus on parliamentary norms and practices is not sufficient for establishing a compelling explanation of the events surrounding the CPRS. Newman’s analysis is valuable, but it gives us a weak grip on the key issues of interpretation and explanation we’re all facing with regard to that political moment. I reflect on the methodological challenges when establishing meaning and causation in political analysis of the CPRS because it involves evaluating party-political strategy amid a deepening crisis for the state as it (mis)manages climate change with ad hoc market solutions.