He would hand them their Citizenship Certificate and medallion and have a brief chat regarding where they were from, do they like Broken Hill etc and then it was all over. As the Ceremonies were mostly conducted in early afternoons, the vast majority rejected the Mayors offer for a drink. Each Ceremony lasted approximately five minutes.

Mayor Page was too busy for such trivial matters  as he was `a hands on mayor'  who appeared to be more involved in `grey areas' in the day-to-day administration of Broken Hill which the inquiry found inappropriate.

Still it takes some time to organise  and an alternative location obviously could not be found,

The LGSA  (Local Government & Shires Association) which oversees such forums in their spiel about Environmental Sustainability Commitment has been rearranged, their plan to attack climate change  was not exactly earth shattering .  More like a few years back when the United Nations HQ in New York were told to tighten their belts, one of the first major thrusts in frugality was to stop supplying the numerous conference rooms with tumblers of iced water on an almost hourly basis regardless of whether there was conference or there wasn't a conference.

It reads;

The LGSA  (Local Government & Shires Association)is committed to environmental sustainability at our events and conferences to reduce the impact on the planet. Initiatives in place to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" at the 2008 LGA Conference include a Waste Reduction Policy, the use of glasses and water jugs rather than bottled water, and locally sourced produce for catering where possible. The venue will be powered by 100% Green Power for the duration of the conference, which is generously donated by Elite Sponsor Country Energy.

The question is how do you determine when you're boiling your water whether it is green or whatever. How can you be sure that the environmental credentials will take a nosedive when it's  announced that due to problems beyond the control of Country Energy your cup of tea has been contaminated by fossil fuels.

Do you throw your cup of tea away and instead pour yourself a glass of wine from a half empty bottle which you vaguely remember having  opened late into the previous night.
 
As you take a sip you realise it's only eight in the morning and then you realise  you've  taken the first step into alcoholism.

Then what about the use of glasses and water jugs. How can you determine whether the water does not contain contaminants  that could lead to brain damage and other  life threatening  afflictions.  Isn't  Broken Hill  a mining place where hideous metals sweep down the streets  in a cloud of life threatening dust?

You order another bottle to forget about what conferences can do to you.

The LGSA mission statement  is emphatic about 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle'. Therein lies another problem.  Are they talking about the human condition?  We reduce, reuse, and recycle our councillors on a regular basis - was that what they were talking about?

If you had forgone the water and was suspicious the energy was contaminated by environmentally unsustainable sources, and you had no doubt you had breathed near fatal quantities of metals as you poured yourself another glass you'd probably think that is exactly what they were talking about.