services for children and young people has caused a good deal of amusement in the community.

Much of that amusement stems from the televised Press conference to introduce the catalogue during which two Cabinet Ministers spoke, both the Minister of Health and Social Services and the Minister of Education, flanked by a table loaded with people, many of them civil servants, who were gossiping and giggling as the Ministers spoke.

Then it turned out that this rather simple catalogue, which by the way is incomplete, has been worked on by individuals from six Government departments since 1994. We know that the wheels of Government turn slowly but this must be something of a record.

In addition, this catalogue, which is basically just a listing, was produced by an executive committee of six persons and a steering committee of some 27 additional people. There are 12 different Government departments listed as having been involved. It is a pamphlet. Just imagine the waste of time.

If you look at the catalogue, it is clear that it could have been compiled by a secretary in spare time. Surely it is the sort of thing that Government Information Services should be producing as a routine effort. It will have to be updated regularly and perhaps that can be done by GIS.

One interesting thing about the catalogue is that it gives people an opportunity to judge just how much duplication of effort there appears to be in the organisations offering services. Someone might very usefully take the lead and work toward getting some of the services together for greater efficiency and less wastage of time and money.

We are not saying that this little catalogue, which, incidentally, breaks the law by not saying by whom it was printed, is not a useful tool. It will probably be of use as a quick reference to the services available. That is its purpose and it does have a place even though most of the services are public knowledge.

Our problem rests with the "big deal'' made over its production by far too many people spending what appears to be far too much time. Just the Press conference to launch the catalogue was a gross waste of time. It gives every appearance of being a "make work'' effort by the Civil Service which could have been accomplished with very little fuss and with relatively little effort. All of the services are, after all, public knowledge and about half the catalogue lists Government services of which Government, hopefully, has a permanent list.

When the public complains about wastage in the Civil Service, they seldom get anywhere and often the complaints are countered by stories of how hard civil servants work. Then along comes this little catalogue. Some of the people who are so keen on inquiries should suggest an inquiry into how much time it took and how much money was wasted by having all those giggling and gossiping people sitting in on the Press conference.