The Prime Minister has a lot on his plate, but that's the nature of being the Prime Minister.
He's not the first one to have to manage international and domestic issues at the same time.
Think in recent times of September 11, the Bali bombing, the Asian financial crisis. Life still has to go on in Australia.
But in the last week the Prime Minister has been very much off the pace on domestic issues. And in particular the question of pensions.
There has been an almost excruciating, if not embarrassing attempt to link the domestic issues with the international climate.
The messages have been very mixed.
It's only weeks ago that he and his senior Ministers were saying that they couldn't live on the fortnightly payment for a single pensioner of $562.10, or the fortnightly rate for a pensioner couple of $469.50 each.
Then we were told that a review of pensions was going to be handed down in February and it will be part of a broader taxation review headed by the Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry. But that's not due until the end of next year.
Then the Prime Minister said on Thursday, while he would deliver pension reform, "We'll let you know in good season".
Now in the middle of all of this the Government voted against a proposal in the Senate to immediately grant a $30 a week increase in the single age pension.
At the time, the Rudd Government said it wasn't good enough, because it excluded carers and disability pensioners.
So pensioners were entitled to believe that they were going to get a better deal from the Government.
Now with a global financial crisis, by last Thursday it was no better than "We'll let you know in good season".
By Friday the Prime Minister was saying it would take a lot of money and the Government would deliver by the time of the next Budget. But then he said on Friday it was a complex exercise and was warning us it was very expensive.
Then as he went on the language got firmer, "We'll do it, and we'll do it by the next Budget".
But then he wasn't sure, "Every ten dollars a week increase results in eight billion dollars across the forward estimates ... that's a lot of money. That's why we've got to get it right, but we're confident we'll get this right by the time of the next Budget".
But then he said he'd have to make further budget cuts to fund the pension promise.
Now if you can work all that out, it means that the Government seems to have made up its mind to commit to an increase in pensions, but nothing until the next Budget.
But as some are saying, even in his own party, if you can give out $31 billion in tax cuts, you surely can afford an increase in the single age pension of 30 dollars a week.
And many are saying for a government that's been in now for almost a year, why can't they get that before Christmas?
Why are they waiting until the next Budget?
And if the Government is confused about what it's going to do, pensioners aren't.
They're just plain angry.
