"People just don't trust superannuation as being a long-term vehicle anymore,” Mr Costello said. "They know the rules are going to vary from year to year.

"If you want to put money away for 20, 30 or 40 years you have to have some certainty it's going to be there when you retire, and I think the government's got to give it some certainty," he said.

His comments follow long-standing calls from the SMSF sector, including The SMSF Association, to remove superannuation from the short-term budgetary cycle.

David Murray’s financial system report, released in December, also called for the bipartisan support of superannuation and for the objectives of the superannuation system to be enshrined in legislation.