Bishop condemns 'yuppie-land greed?

Press, 19 February 1988, Page 7

Bishop condemns 'yuppie-land greed?

By

DEBORAH McPHERSON

Honest dealing seems to have almost disappeared in the greed of “yuppie land,” says the Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev. Maurice Goodall.

Bishop Goodall gave these views against materialism in a diocesan newsletter this week.

The sharemarket crash had revealed what were "horrendous secret deals by leading financiers,” he said. “It seems ironic that some people are spending time ‘exposing’ the claimed misapplication or lack of supervision of Maori trust funds when deals of hundreds of millions are under suspicion in major companies.” ■ Bishop said

yesterday that he stood by his comments, although he admitted he might have been a “little harsh” in picking on young urban professional people.

“I think we are all infected by the situation. While I am sure there are a lot of honest business people the impression given is that it is better to make a dollar than to sometimes make a bit less and work more with people,” he said. Bishop Goodall said he was not speaking out to try -< to protect the Church’s "privileged tax position.” “If we have to end up paying tax on our trust funds, as it looked before Christmas, so be it. We will have to face up to that.”

He said, however, that the Government would also have to weigh up carefully the effect of

any tax changes to the Church’s social services.

Bishop Goodall said that the Church should not become just another pressure group. “Rather we should seek to offer constructive possibilities, which are consistent with the Kingdom values,” he said. The statement by the Anglican public and social affairs committee on the tax package submitted by the Archbishop of New Zealand, the Most Rev. Brian Davis, had along with other submissions made an impact on Government policies, Bishop Goodall said. Bishop Goodall also called on the Church to pray “with realism and understanding” for political leaders and for leaders in the business world “where integrity and moral convictions are needed to resist the questionable deal.”