Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called on the media to be ready to give his government "more credit where it is due", in a speech on Wednesday night to mark the 50th year of the National Press Club.

In the speech, Mr Abbott said there would always be an "element of tension in the relationship between members of Parliament and members of the media" because both are "deeply interested" in policies affecting people's lives, adding that while politicians "must put up" with media judgment, Australia and the world are "stronger thanks to a media that speaks truth to power".

Prime Minister Tony Abbott meets political commentator Gerard Henderson at the National Press Club dinner. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"So I wholeheartedly acknowledge the media's role in our national life and in our polity," he said.

"Yet the media's job is to improve our country as well as to report it, and the best contribution, if I may say so, that the media could make right now is not to be more right-wing, or to be more left-wing but to be more ready to give credit where its due.