The cabinet secretary, Arthur Sinodinos, has committed the government to take the superannuation policy back to the party room after confusion around the details of the package within the Coalition.

Sinodinos said the Coalition was open to changes to superannuation measures after the election, while claiming the government would have a clear mandate to implement the changes if they win the election.

“The superannuation changes were part of the budget so they were presented to the party room before the budget was handed down to the parliament,” he said.



“The next process will be if we win the election there will be consultations on various changes and then legislation presented to the party room.”

In a Sky interview including Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon, Sinodinos said no fellow MPs had rung to urge the government to change the superannuation measures.

.@A_Sinodinos plays down reports of a backbench revolt over the coalition's super changes #ausvotes https://t.co/R4R7MPRrcs — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 1, 2016

He confirmed the “transition to retirement” policy was not presented to the party room specifically – it was part of the whole budget package.

“If we win the election, we would have a mandate to implement our superannuation changes and that’s what we’ll put up to the parliament,” Sinodinos said.

“So you’ll have a mandate to implement the thing you are going to consult on after the election Arthur?” asked Fitzgibbon.



Sinodinos said there would be consultations on “subsidiary matters” but denied it was around the start date of the superannuation measures.

As finance minister Mathias Cormann admitted that superannuation was “complex”, the issue dominated the campaign day on Wednesday as Labor released an ad accusing the Coalition of dipping into the savings of superannuants.

The Coalition has been under pressure over the changes after two senior ministers – Julie Bishop and Josh Frydenberg – could not explain the superannuation policy measures in the first Turnbull budget.

The Coalition policy places a $500,000 lifetime cap for nonconcessional superannuation contributions backdated to 2007, increases the concessional tax rate on asset earnings from 0 to 15% for people aged 56-65 in the “transition to retirement” (TTR) and taxes accounts over $1.6m at 15%.



Concern has been growing within the Coalition over explaining the changes as Peta Credlin urged the government to either defend or drop the policy. But the government has been playing down the number of people affected by the policy as only 4% of superannuants.

The assistant treasurer, Kelly O’Dwyer, estimated 115,000 people were affected by the TTR changes but the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) estimated on Wednesday there were 550,000 people holding TTR accounts.



The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young struggled to explain the Greens superannuation policy in a radio interview while Labor refused to state a position on the “transition to retirement” policy.

As the election was called immediately after the budget, the government changes to superannuation have yet to pass the parliament. Labor has previously raised concerns over the backdating of the $500,000 lifetime cap.



Malcolm Turnbull has defended his changes, describing them as “fair” and “long overdue”.



“We’re proud of these changes,” Turnbull said. “They’re important. They’re overdue. Governments have been called on to do them for many years. They’ve been kicked into the long grass for a long time and we’ve taken them out. We’re a reforming government.”

Coalition MPs who spoke to Guardian Australia said constituents were concerned about superannuation but once the policy was properly explained, fears were allayed.



The Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly said people were raising superannuation changes in his electorate of Hughes, south of Sydney.



“It is one of the issues that people are raising and have concern about,” he said.

“It’s not as generous as it otherwise was and under some of the changes we are making, some people have to pay more tax. But in financial situation we are in, these are the tough decisions government have to take.”

Kelly said he took a constituent call from a man very concerned over the changes, however once he explained the changes, he realised he was not effected.

Fellow Liberal backbencher Ian Goodenough told the ABC it was a significant issue in the election campaign.

“I have received a volume of correspondence from constituents objecting to the changes it is a significant issue in this election, however the dilemma is to identify another area of revenue to target,” Goodenough said.

Labor’s Jim Chalmers said Labor’s concern with the policy changes was the effect on middle income earners.



“There’s a difference of opinion about how many people these changes will impact between the Productivity Commission, which said about 115,000, to some of the stakeholders, who say the number is closer to half a million Australians impacted,” Chalmers said.

“We said all along that we are concerned that while the government claims that these changes only impact high income earners, we think that the impact is felt right throughout middle Australia, up and down the income levels in this country.”