Mr Turnbull had been communications minister at the time of the summit and the then prime minister, Tony Abbott, had been away in northern Australia, addressing the high-powered gathering only via a brief pre-taped video message. "To secure and enhance our prosperity we must be more productive, competitive and innovative": Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Andrew Meares Mr Turnbull's intervention now, however, suggests he is eager to discuss the big ideas floated and wants to send a message of creative optimism to the leaders, many of whom had all but abandoned hope of getting Canberra involved in the discussion of bold reform. In comments provided to Fairfax Media, Mr Turnbull described the summit as "a rare opportunity to achieve consensus on the most pressing economic and social issues" facing the country. "Australia is a prosperous country with high wages, a high standard of living and a generous social welfare safety net. To secure and enhance our prosperity we must be more productive, competitive and innovative," he said.

"Our government is focused on the opportunities arising from technological disruption and in creating an environment for strong, innovative industries to grow. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann would not repeat Malcolm Turnbull's assertion that "increasing capital gains tax is no part of our thinking whatsoever". Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "I want to build on the key priorities of the summit and work towards a practical set of reforms that will help to create jobs, drive innovation and stimulate growth." But if big thinking and alternative ideas are suddenly back in vogue under the Turnbull regime, the grinding work of budget repair itself has not been altered. In a significant speech on Monday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann dashed hopes in sections of the business community for a slower return to surplus to protect growth and jobs by declaring all savings measures from the previous two budgets remained on the table.

He said any replacement measures identified would have to at least achieve identical fiscal improvements to be eligible. The declaration, which suggests ongoing negotiations with the Senate crossbench are already being circumscribed, threatens to neuter those talks just as crossbenchers such as Nick Xenophon flag that they too can be flexible when discussing previously blocked legislation. Speaking to the Sydney Institute on Monday, Senator Cormann, one of few players in the Abbott cabinet to have retained his existing job under Malcolm Turnbull, claimed Labor had made new spending promises and opposed savings with a combined effect on the bottom line of $62 billion. Continuing the Abbott mantra that Australia's problem is one of spending and not revenue, he expressly rejected Labor plans for new or additional taxes in areas like the bank guarantee surcharge or in high-end superannuation tax concessions. "Labor continues to block about $13.6 billion in budget repair measures which we have put forward," he said.

"We will continue to negotiate their passage through the Senate. No policy measure will be taken off the table unless and until it is replaced with an alternative policy which achieves the same improvement in our budget position in another way." But while the government continues to argue that it is not a shortage of revenue that is the problem but excessive spending, it has quietly increased the tax take anyway via "20 measures to increase revenue, with those measures improving the budget outcome by $20.8 billion over the relevant budget estimates period". Follow us on Twitter