Continuing with his theme of contrition in a bid to reconnect with disgruntled voters, the Prime Minister maintained his government needed ''to lift its performance, deliver more''.

''It's important to acknowledge the fact that we need to do better, deliver more, get back to basics.''

Under pressure for failing to meet all his election promises, Mr Rudd pointed out the national curriculum was a ''key pre-election commitment of ours''.

''This is the back-to-basics stuff that the government's on about and there'll be more of it.''

Mr Rudd was standing alongside his deputy, the Workplace Relations and Education Minister, Julia Gillard.

In two short years, Ms Gillard has, among other things, modernised the industrial awards system, introduced new industrial relations laws, harmonised occupational health and safety laws, introduced the MySchool website and, now, the national curriculum for maths, science, English and history.

Yet she, too, said she had not done enough and needed to lift her game. ''I do agree with the Prime Minister's assessment,'' she said.

''The Prime Minister is challenging me and other ministers and the government overall … to keep improving, keep rising to the challenge, keep delivering on the things that matter to working families.''

The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, dismissed the prime ministerial mea culpa as a confected exercise. ''I think the problem is that the Prime Minister is rattled by intimations of political mortality,'' he said. ''… This is the politics of seeking forgiveness that he's interested in, it's not the substance of delivering better services.''

Mr Abbott said the families of the four workers who died installing insulation while the government's scheme was in place would have little tolerance for the Prime Minister's contrition.

Some Labor ministers have been upset by the overt nature of Mr Rudd's self-criticism.

They believe it has the potential to undo many of the government's achievements, such as rescuing the economy from recession.

One complained yesterday that had the Prime Minister not sought to micro-manage everything, then some programs and services would have been delivered faster and the criticism muted.

The government is still ahead in the polls but has become spooked by voter perception that it has failed to deliver on key promises and had spent too much time focused on long-term, big-picture issues such as climate change.