Tim Watkin

Analysis - With the year drawing to a close, the sounds that seem to sum up the season are less jingling bells and carols, more the cough of Covid-19 and an enormous, exhausted sigh of relief, Tim…

These mid-terms have the look of a moment where America's breathed out its Trumpish toxins, writes political commentator Tim Watkin.

Analysis - Though often unspoken, masked or downplayed, abortion has always been at the heart of US political polarisation, writes Tim Watkin.

Opinion - While Ardern said the Cabinet changes were due to Faafoi and Mallard leaving, she used the moment to address issues that have bedevilled her government, Tim Watkins writes.

Analysis - New Zealand's approach to Covid-19 can be boiled down to buy time - and it's worked. But now it's time to change tactics, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - It is only thanks to the cloak and dagger politics Luxon's colleagues engaged in over the past three years that someone with barely a year in parliament can take the helm, writes Tim Watkin…

Opinion - Auckland. It's been known to Māori as Tāmaki Makaurau, a place of 'many lovers'. In the past fortnight the city has become Tāmaki Pikiniki, a place of many picnics, Tim Watkin writes.

Analysis - When the latest 1News Colmar Brunton poll was released, the most telling part of the result for me was that there's no intense battle for the National Party, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis: Tallying the balance of good and bad done in the Afghanistan War leaves Tim Watkin wondering at the immense damage and ongoing effects that have resulted from the US's retaliation for the…

Analysis - The Labour government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has gone from "go hard and go early" in March last year, to "meh, we'll go whenever", writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - On election night 2020 the sense of triumph around Labour was palpable, the grins as wide as the Waikato. Today's Budget is why, Tim Watkin writes.

Analysis - Biden's inauguration doesn't have a lot in common with that of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago, writes Tim Watkin, but both inaugurations ask: How far?

The Labour government is not exactly overflowing with stars, but Ardern looks at first blush to have done quite a lot with a little, Tim Watkin writes.

Analysis - Many ex-National voters opted for Labour to ensure the Greens don't have the power to pull the party further left, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - The Green Party supports a wealth tax but Labour has repeatedly ruled it out, so voters deserve more information about how Labour and the Greens might play their hands, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - On its three key issues, Labour has failed to match its own promises and goals, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - Historical raids on foreign embassies by New Zealand spies at the behest of MI6 and the CIA put NZ's reputation and trade on the line, RNZ Podcasts' Tim Watkin writes.

The Service - As a new podcast reveals SIS secrets from the Cold War, the executive producers explain why they decided classified information should be divulged.

Analysis - A crisis in an election year that requires a massive spending spree amounts to a huge slice of luck for Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Tim Watkin writes.

The news today that The Listener is to close, along with all of Bauer Media's other titles, brings a tear to the eye of former deputy editor Tim Watkin.

Mike Moore was an ideas man, a trade and a working class hero who had plenty of tragedy and frustration in his life, but he'd hate for that to loom large in discussion of his legacy, Tim Watkin writes…

Analysis - Bring together both road and rail, throw in a dash of school and hospital spending and you have something crucial for all three coalition partners, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - Amid the KiwiBuild reset announcement came the smell of burning rubber as the government performed some of the biggest political u-turns you've ever seen, writes Tim Watkin.

Analysis - Whether Coalition NZ is a Christian party or not (the Tamakis themselves are divided), the idea that they or any religious party can get into parliament does not stand scrutiny, writes Tim… Video

An elite group of business and iwi leaders, union officials and lobbyists are frequently bending the ear of the Labour-led government, ministerial diaries released this week show.