One of Australia's most seasoned policy thinkers is escalating his calls for major economic reform, warning that tinkering around the edges will doom the next generation to a lower standard of living.

Former Treasury boss Ken Henry  says the country is heading towards an "intergenerational tragedy". He says we've broken the "golden rule" that each generation will have the "opportunity and capacity" to be better off, by failing to address several structural failures. He says this is putting nearly all of the burden on young people and "we appear to have given up" on fixing these.

Guest: Ken Henry, former Treasury Secretary