Instead, there was a list of 10 topics of consensus and eight priority areas where the government will seek to move quickly on reform, with Chalmers saying “a lot of the hard work begins now”.

It’s needed by the federal budget to make up for declining fuel excise revenue due to Australians increasingly shifting to hybrid and electric vehicles.

While many of the proposals flagged by economists and think tanks prior to the roundtable focused on tax reform, no consensus on the issue was reached during this week’s meeting.

Instead, Chalmers said the government would continue talks with the experts invited to the summit about taxation.

When asked about former Treasury secretary Ken Henry’s characterisation of the tax system as “intergenerational bastardry” that treats younger Australians unfairly, the treasurer acknowledged work needed to be done.

“Our tax system is imperfect and one of its most troubling imperfections is best seen through an inter-generational lens,” Chalmers said.

“Almost everybody around the table had a similar view, which is we take our responsibilities to the coming generations seriously.

“We recognise that we, as people of influence, with this opportunity have responsibilities in lots of ways, but especially inter-generational responsibilities and we take them very seriously.”

Government’s ‘reform directions’ from productivity roundtable