Treasurer Joe Hockey has all but ruled out including the GST in the government's tax review.
The federal government is due to release its taxation white paper in April ahead of the federal budget.
But Mr Hockey on Friday gave his strongest indication yet that the GST would not be on the government's tax reform agenda.
He told a business forum in Sydney that on a political level it would require the support of Labor and all states to change the GST.
"I don't think that would happen," he said.
But more importantly, there was no economic or budget sense in making any changes, he said.
"We have very flat increases in wages in Australia, our nominal income hasn't grown the way we were expecting it would, so households have been under some pressure," Mr Hockey said.
"We've got, at the moment, unemployment too high.
"It's not the time to increase prices for everything, which effectively is what a GST is.
"Now is not the time to do that at all."
In addition, Mr Hockey said the government did not have the money to compensate low-income households for any rise in the GST.
The treasurer said changes in technology and global free trade meant that in any case consumption taxes may not exist in any countries in three or four decades.
"Global commerce and the transmission of goods and services over the internet by suppliers offshore is increasingly undermining the indirect tax base of many countries," he said.
The treasurer again addressed the issue of allowing the use of superannuation savings for home deposits, saying such a debate should not be prematurely shut down.
Some of his cabinet colleagues have argued the proposal undermines the government's message, reinforced in the recent Intergenerational Report, about the need to increase savings and take pressure off the age pension system.
"If the community resolves that the super system is to be used only for retirement purposes, so be it," Mr Hockey said.
"But please let us have a conversation at a national level."
He said the cost of buying a house was an important issue and he was open to solutions being put forward.
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