It’s just a tiny thing, but then, sometimes small things can carry bigger messages. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is delaying by a day his departure to the international climate conference (COP31) in Turkey to chair ministerial meetings on work for the budget update, which will be released in December.

The government would deny it, of course, but this can be seen as symbolising how the country’s economic problems are overwhelming everything else on the government’s agenda. And certainly, this includes the COP summit that Australia fought so hard to host (but ended up only co-hosting).

Albanese, who only returned to Australia from the Caribbean on Friday, must feel trapped by the multiple overseas commitments the current “summit season” is imposing on him.

The optics of this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the Caribbean were unfortunate at best, what with clips of the PM’s small talk with King Charles and nothing much of substance out of the conference.

Albanese will now leave for COP on Tuesday, giving him Monday to devote to........

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