TONY EASTLEY: Since its election on the 24th of November last year, the Government has signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, apologised to Indigenous Australians and delivered tax cuts and childcare benefits.
But there are major promises still to be delivered - including health, education and communications.
And then there is the emissions trading scheme.
The Acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard spoke a short time ago to our chief political correspondent, Lyndal Curtis.
LYNDAL CURTIS: Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd spent much time talking about benchmarking and key performance indicators. As you do the job appraisal one year on, how do you rate the Government's performance?
JULIA GILLARD: The Government set out to do two things: to deliver on its promises and to lay the foundations for long-term reform. We have been getting on with that job.
Obviously times have changed during the last 12 months. No-one 12 months ago was talking about a global financial crisis, now everybody is talking about a global financial crisis. And in addition to delivering our promises and bringing around the foundations of long-term reform, we've had to act quickly and decisively to deal with the global financial crisis and to do what we can to keep this nation in front.
LYNDAL CURTIS: You say you are delivering on election promises but there is much still to be done, isn't there? Two of the big ones from Kevin Rudd's election launch speech - the national broadband network and giving every Year 9 to 12 student access to their own computer at school are still to come.
When will they be fully delivered?
JULIA GILLARD: Computers in schools was a four-year program. This is the first year and we are on time.
On the national broadband network, we have been involved in a tender process. Obviously I am not going to talk about tenders because they are subject to very strict legal requirements for good reason.
LYNDAL CURTIS: But will that process be well underway by the time of the next election? Will people be seeing some benefits of it?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, we have a tender round closing on Wednesday. The process will continue from there and clearly I am not going to make comment when we have a tender round that is yet to close.
LYNDAL CURTIS: The Government has been saying it will be able to keep all of its election promises yet with the surplus at the very least slashed if not gone altogether, is it realistic to believe you don't have to cut your cloth to suit the times?
JULIA GILLARD: We budgeted for our election promises in the May budget. Indeed, we delivered on many of the promises immediately from the May budget in the May budget.
LYNDAL CURTIS: But you still have higher education reform, emissions trading, a defence white paper and major agreements with the states on health and education to come.
JULIA GILLARD: Well, we have a number of things to come but of the promises we gave the Australian people at the last election, we budgeted for them in May. A number of them were delivered and in people's pockets by the first of July.
As we look forward, we have got the Council of Australian Governments on Saturday. We will enter new agreements with our state and territory colleagues.
Obviously those new agreements will take into account the fact that we have had to global financial crisis and $40-billion has been punched out of the Federal Government's revenue.
LYNDAL CURTIS: Rupert Murdoch in his Boyer Lecture last night on education said that Australia's public education systems are a disgrace and leaving too many children illiterate and innumerate. He also says schools should set high standards and expectation and deliver on them. Do you agree with his sentiments?
JULIA GILLARD: I certainly think Rupert Murdoch is making a hell of a lot of sense. When we look at how our schools go against the schools around the world, when our children do international testing and we can compare them with children in other countries, we know two things from that testing.
Firstly for our high achieving students we are not doing enough and secondly that we have too long a tale of students that don't reach minimum standards and overwhelmingly, they are students from poor backgrounds.
That is the legacy that this Government has inherited in education and it is something we are absolutely determined to change and there is no excuse for allowing ourselves to think that somehow poor kids are destined to poor outcomes.
LYNDAL CURTIS: He also talked about corporations getting more involved as News Limited does in the United States. Will you be calling him to ask him to put his money where his mouth is?
JULIA GILLARD: (laughs).. Well, I raised at the 20/20 Summit earlier this year better partnerships between business and schools.
Many businesses in this country already have a relationship with schools. I would like to see that broadened and deepened. I would like to see all of our major corporations, our top 100 or 200 companies each in a relationship with schools so every school had a business relationship where that business was providing mentors, leadership skills and support.
TONY EASTLEY: The Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, speaking with Lyndal Curtis.