Malcolm Turnbull has assured business, union and social sector leaders that the government will keep an “open mind” on all options for tax and economic reforms, in a clear break from the approach of his predecessor, Tony Abbott.

The prime minister emphasised in a three-hour meeting with community leaders in Canberra on Thursday that the government would not pre-emptively close the door to any particular option and was “very committed to listening” to expert views.

The groups invited to attend the meeting welcomed the consultative approach, but conceded they continued to disagree about contentious issues including the goods and services tax (GST) and the appropriate level of revenue collection.

Thursday’s meeting was part of Turnbull’s attempt to put a new stamp on the government’s economic direction – a key criticism he cited when he challenged Abbott’s leadership last month.

Turnbull has yet to make any concrete changes to economic policy, fuelling Labor’s criticism that the ousting of Abbott was more about style than substance. There is, however, scope for the government to make big decisions through the tax and federation white paper processes, setting the scene for a platform for the election due in 2016.

Participants at the meeting agreed on general principles such as strong economic growth, returning the budget to surplus, increasing job opportunities and workforce participation, investing in infrastructure, and encouraging innovation and productivity.

The Grattan Institute’s chief executive, John Daley, who attended the meeting, said Abbott’s previous decision to rule out options including curbing superannuation concessions for high-income earners “had been very unfortunate”.

“Clearly a tax process in which all options are genuinely on the table has far more chance of success and some of those options need to be on the table. Superannuation, negative gearing, capital gains tax should be on the table,” Daley said.

The chief executive of National Seniors, Michael O’Neill, said he detected the government’s willingness to look at all issues associated with retirement incomes, including inequities in the superannuation system.

Cassandra Goldie, chief of the Australian Council of Social Service, said there were areas of consensus but not about the GST or what proportion of GDP should go towards tax.

The chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott, called for a focus on the performance of state governments because they controlled “much of the regulation that often stymies that innovation”.



The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Dave Oliver, said unions wanted to engage on achieving economic growth, investing in infrastructure, innovation and skills, and discussing the changing nature of work at a time of technological change and globalisation.

The Australian Industry Group’s chief executive, Innes Willox, said the groups were “very encouraged” that the dialogue would continue.

“We had discussions around both the revenue side of fiscal policy as well as the spending side, and it was, I would say, a really frank and fruitful conversation,” Willox said.

Kate Carnell, chief of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said she was keen to continue talks about making it easier for small and medium businesses to hire people who had been unemployed for a long time.

This could include widening the work for the dole program to include private businesses and ensuring it includes a training component, she said.

The meeting was closed to the media, although cameras were invited in for Turnbull’s opening address. The prime minister was joined by key economic ministers and representatives who contributed to August’s “national reform summit” organised by the Australian and Australian Financial Review newspapers.

“From our part, we are here to listen,” Turnbull said. “I believe our shared objective is to ensure that we are as competitive and productive in the future as we possibly can be because that’s how we ensure our prosperity.”

He added that Australia was well positioned to take advantages of “gigantic opportunities” but this required a frank and open discussion.

“We need good ideas and we need to engage with these challenges and the ways to take advantage of them with an open mind and that’s what we’re, that’s what today is all about,” he said.

The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, told Sky News the government had been “in listening mode”.

However, Labor dismissed the meeting as a flop, pointing to the lack of any clear or concrete outcomes.

The shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, said the peak bodies had put the same views on the public record over the past two years. Bowen said the exercise was “less about governing and making decisions now and more about trying to provide legitimacy to the Liberal party’s election manifesto”.

“It’s clear they have been frustrated about the lack of progress under the Abbott/Turnbull government, to the point they held summits independent of government over recent months,” he said.

“While it’s always useful for governments to be engaging with a broad cross-section of society, today’s ‘summit’, held at this stage of the cycle, is evidence that the last two years has been a wasted opportunity.”

