Geoff Simmons | The Morgan Foundation

Politicians need to face up to reality and discuss the future of NZ Super

Geoff SimmonsOctober 25, 2016Tax and Welfare

Over the weekend the Retirement Commissioner foreshadowed the launch of a new study. The findings are that despite its success, NZ Super is not sustainable in the long term unless we make some changes to it. This sparked the usual … Read More

Environmental impacts of farming need fresh thinking

Geoff SimmonsOctober 20, 2016Environment

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s latest report is as enlightening and robust as ever, as we discussed yesterday. However, in some respects the report is a missed opportunity, mainly because of the Commissioner’s approach of producing stand-alone reports on … Read More

Supermarkets Sign Voluntary Healthy Eating Accord

Geoff SimmonsOctober 18, 2016Food, Health

Yesterday New Zealand’s top supermarket brands (including New World, Pak n Save, Four Square and Countdown) agreed to a voluntary accord to encourage healthy eating. This is a positive first step, and welcome recognition from these large companies that the … Read More

Fact Check: Have home insulation grants helped the poor?

Geoff SimmonsOctober 17, 2016Tax and Welfare

On today’s Morning Report the Prime Minister John Key put the home insulation grants in the top three things his Government is doing for the poor, alongside benefit increases and free doctor’s visits up to the age of 13. But … Read More

Cheats Never Prosper

Geoff SimmonsOctober 12, 2016Environment

In a speech to the Environmental Defence Society Climate Change and Business Conference, the Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett said the Government is looking at measures to encourage more forests to be planted. This is tantamount to an admission of … Read More

Housing Debt Hits Record Levels As Speculative Contagion Spreads

Geoff SimmonsOctober 6, 2016Economics

Auckland’s speculative housing bubble might be cooling in the wake of the Reserve Bank’s new loan to value ratios, but there is little to suggest that our days of housing speculation are over. The pause in Auckland may only be … Read More

Three Ways the RMA Fails to Protect the Environment

Geoff SimmonsSeptember 30, 2016Environment

We often hear about the impact of the Resource Management Act (RMA) on the economy, but what about its impact on the environment? A new report from the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) answers this question, and the results aren’t pretty. … Read More

The Unitary Plan Improves Choice

Geoff SimmonsSeptember 29, 2016Property

The inevitable has happened; the NIMBYs (not in my backyarders) opposing the Unitary Plan have turned to legal redress to prevent change. The likes of the Character Coalition claim that the Unitary Plan process “trampled on people’s rights”, but this … Read More

Nigel Latta Only Tells Half the Story on the Economy

Geoff SimmonsSeptember 28, 2016Economics

Last night Nigel Latta tackled the long-standing issue of the struggling New Zealand economy. For decades the country has been focused on working harder and producing more stuff rather than working smarter and making better stuff. We’ve been a big … Read More

Local Democracy is broken, but whose fault is it?

Geoff SimmonsSeptember 27, 2016Politics

Local democracy is failing to deliver in many parts of the country, which in some extreme cases (Canterbury) has led to the removal of their powers. In Auckland a similar threat hung over the Council if they didn’t pass the … Read More