The latter could be a big ask given the many challenges Labor has inherited, early rifts with the Greens and the teal independents, not to mention One Nation, and the pugnacious character of the new Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton.

While Mr Albanese moved to mend some fences late last week, allowing One Nation senators and teal independent David Pocock an additional adviser each, this has, as is often the case in Canberra, created as many or more problems than it may have resolved.

It is now that much harder for the government to argue against additional staff for crossbenchers in the lower house where its wafer-thin one seat majority means it is not reliant on the teal independents or the Greens to pass legislation.

It would be remarkably cynical to have one set of standards for crossbench senators, whose support the government will be counting on from time to time, and another for crossbench lower-house MPs. That's not a good look, especially in what is the first week at a particularly hard school for Mr Albanese and his team.

An even bigger problem is that the concession on staff numbers came on the back of big U-turns on the extension of the COVID-19 support payment, telehealth and additional funding for state and territory hospitals under pressure from surging coronavirus case numbers.

After having taken a strong line on all of these issues since the election, with Mr Albanese and senior ministers including Treasurer Jim Chalmers repeatedly saying the parlous state of the national finances limited its policy options, the government has blinked in the face of pressure, especially from its own friends and supporters.

While it is possible to defend some of the backflips on the basis that when circumstances change policy should change as well, the risk is the community may start to wonder if the Albanese government says what it means and means what is says. Such doubts would be unfortunate, given Australia has rarely needed strong, resolute and competent government more than it does right now.

And, given their early wins, the Labor premiers, the union movement and others will be thinking that if they have got the government to cave on key issues so soon it should be possible to win further concessions in the future.

The Greens, who are pushing Labor hard on banning all new fossil fuel projects and lifting its 2030 emissions target above 43 per cent, will have been watching recent events with interest.

So, while some would argue the concessions were inevitable, the reality is they could encourage a barrage of friendly, and not so friendly, fire down the track.

This is not going to be helpful given the pressure Mr Albanese is under to get Labor's climate bill through Parliament, to deal with surging COVID-19 cases, including outbreaks in more than 1000 nursing homes, rising interest rates, the inflation-induced cost of living crisis, developing a more nuanced approach to the rise of China, and building on AUKUS and the submarine deal.

And that's not to mention the ongoing impact of the war in Ukraine, the establishment of an ICAC and working towards the Indigenous voice to Parliament.

While Mr Albanese has spent the first two months of his tenure making a mark on the world stage, it is fair to say that this has been at the expense of domestic issues. Those issues are going to be front and centre when Parliament resumes this Tuesday morning.