Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where Courtney Gould gets you up to speed on the happenings from Parliament House.
Anthony Albanese and his government could only wish for the type of cut-through the Finnish embassy in Canberra received when it temporarily closed on Tuesday.
It all started when Finland's ambassador to Australia, Arto Haapea, starred in a video on Instagram promoting a campaign to fly singles from around the world to Helsinki for dinner dates.
"Are you single? Good. We are here to help … maybe the problem is not you, it's your postcode," he said.
The post's popularity created the perfect storm for the embassy's next message to followers, an innocuous reminder the building would be closed for a planning day, to be sent out to the masses.
An unexpected viral hit was born. People across the world shared their concern about the embassy's one-day closure.
"Bad day to be a Finnish embassy in Canberra enthusiast," one person commented.
The Canberra Raiders, travel company Contiki and video game Angry Birds also chimed in. Haapea filmed a ribbon cutting for the building's grand re-opening the next day.
Even Finland's President Alexander Stubb joined in. On the sidelines of the United Nations climate summit in Türkiye, he shared a happy snap of himself with Albanese.
"I have confirmed to … Albanese that the Finnish embassy in Canberra is open," he wrote.
PM gets busy
Perhaps conscious of the optics of a second week abroad, Albanese packed a lot into his couple of days at home after returning from the Caribbean last week.
He attended a Nepal Festival in Sydney, reversed his decision to sell off four historic defence sites, and announced new mandatory safety and security standards for artificial intelligence.
The prime minister's departure was delayed by a day, meaning he was able to be there in person to chair a meeting of the expenditure review committee ahead of next month's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
A string of interest rate rises and sticky inflation has ramped up pressure on the government to find savings. There is speculation that low-hanging fruit such as the electric vehicle and home battery subsidies could be targeted.
The government argues the schemes promote Australia's transition to renewables, but both are as expensive as they are enormously popular.
Costs have blown out beyond initial projections, and the government has already committed to partially winding back EV subsidies next year following changes already made to the home batteries scheme.
Of course, in the backdrop of all of this are the rumours around the future of Jim Chalmers.
The relationship between the treasurer and Albanese has been the subject of many newspaper articles in recent weeks, as a usually united caucus vented frustrations publicly, with unnamed sources suggesting Chalmers should be replaced.
This week, Environment Minister Murray Watt was asked if he'd like to see an end to the "undermining and leaking" against the treasurer.
"Yes, I would," he replied. "As a member of a government, I take seriously the responsibility to work together, to support government policies, and also to get out there and support each other in what, at times, are very difficult times."
Ahead of his departure for Türkiye, Albanese said "yes" when asked if it was his preference that Chalmers remained Treasurer until the next election.
"The treasurer is doing a great job," he said as he dismissed concerns the good ship government had sprung one too many leaks.
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A side of coffee with your COP?
Albanese may have delayed the departure for his 11-day trip covering three international summits, but that didn't eat too much into his itinerary.
Much like any regular Aussie making a trip across the world, the prime minister (and his team) arrived at dawn and hit the ground running. He almost immediately attended the leaders' summit at COP31, the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Australia had pushed hard to host the summit in Adelaide but conceded to Türkiye, taking on the compromised position to oversee negotiations and host a pre-COP event in the Pacific.
It's Albanese's first-time attending COP as prime minister. He used his opening address to argue that other nations should step up their climate actions and support vulnerable nations, such as those in the Pacific.
Australia and Türkiye want the summit to conclude with agreements on electrification, climate finance and adaption.
Albanese pointed to the strong uptake of home batteries in the past year (backed by the aforementioned subsidy) as Australia's credentials for being a climate leader.
But United Nations secretary-general António Guterres called for more than just words.
"We must move from discussing the transition to organising it, financing it and delivering it," he said.
Fossil fuels, Guterres said, must "go the way of the dinosaurs" as he urged governments not to invest in any new coal developments — something Pacific nations have been critical of the Albanese government for.
Meanwhile, Australia's pavilion at the event has proven to be quite the drawcard. Why? Because of the taxpayer-funded coffee cart.
As Clare Armstrong, who is on the ground for the ABC, observed, the baristas can't get the flat whites out fast enough — with some willing to wait for more than an hour.
It's probably no surprise that the $32,000 price tag for the coffee hub drew criticism from the opposition. That's despite the idea harking back to Opposition Leader Angus Taylor's time as energy minister.
But if you ask former PM Malcolm Turnbull, who is also at COP, it's all about giving people a taste of what Australia has to offer.
"All the dollars that are spent on marketing here, that is probably the best dollar spent," he said.
