Malcolm Turnbull has called on business and the states to embrace a "new dialogue on economic reform" in pursuit of meaningful change based on a "full and genuine buy-in".

And he has also signalled increased competition in service delivery which would apply equally to publicly distributed health and other human services.

Just weeks from his first meeting as Prime Minister of the Council of Australian Governments, Mr Turnbull used a speech on Wednesday night to the powerful business lobby, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to assert that his government wants to get taxes down as a proportion fo the economy, but not if it harms growth.

"The challenge that we face," his speech notes say, " is that expenditure as a percentage of GDP remains at a high level."