Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has blamed the global financial crisis for his failure to come good on some of his pre-election promises.
But despite he says he is more than ready to match his government's achievements against those of the opposition's last term in office.
With an election looming, the coalition has ramped up attacks on Mr Rudd and the government for a trail of "broken promises" on issues including hospital reform, whaling and homelessness.
Responding to the criticisms, Mr Rudd said they were "pretty rich coming from ... the Liberals" - the party which vowed there would never be a GST.
But he conceded tough economic conditions had an impact on the government's performance.
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"Do you know what we've been doing for the last year or so?
"Wrestling with the biggest global economic crisis that the world has seen in three-quarters of a century.
"Obviously some changes had to be made because of the impact on government finances."
It was another reason homelessness had gone up, he said.
Mr Rudd said he was proud of the government's record.
It included following through on key promises such as ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, increasing the government's renewable energy target and getting troops out of Iraq.
"I look forward to election day, of matching our record in just two years - in two and a half, three years - against the 12 years of the Howard government."
