A meeting of premiers and chief ministers to discuss tax reform has been cancelled.
Darwin was to host the Council for the Australian Federation gathering in early March.
But council chairman and Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles has written to his counterparts, saying the meeting is off after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull effectively ruled out any change to the GST.
Mr Giles said in his letter to the premiers the national tax reform discussion had become "even more uncertain" since he initiated the March 1 meeting.
"Until such time the prime minister provides greater clarity with the commonwealth's proposed tax reform package, any CAF discussion would only be speculative and add little to the national conversation," he wrote.
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"I therefore recommend that any further discussion around taxation reform is deferred."
The most immediate concern was funding health and education during the next four years, Mr Giles said.
"A co-ordinated effort to close the fiscal gap through sensible and long-overdue reforms is paramount," he said.
The next meeting of the group is now expected just before the Council of Australian Governments meeting due in April.
