A close election result doesn't mean the federal government should be tied down in a parliament believing it has no mandate, a senior Liberal warns.
And that mandate includes delivering the 2016 budget, handed down just a week before the election was called.
"This idea that there's no mandate for everybody, well that just confuses the public even further," Cabinet Secretary Arthur Sinodinos told ABC TV on Sunday.
"We got more primary votes than Labor and we're going to end up ahead of them on the two-party preferred. If anyone has a mandate it's the government."
He expects the government will put every element of May's budget to parliament.
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That includes changes to superannuation, which some conservatives have blamed for a backlash against the coalition and reduced volunteers and donations during the election campaign.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already promised not to make any further changes to superannuation during the next term of government.
He may face pressure in the party room to change the budget moves to tighten tax concessions on superannuation contributions and cap the total amount people can have in retirement accounts.
Senator Sinodinos said every part of the community had to have a role in getting the budget back to surplus.
"I don't believe that superannuation was quite the make-or-break issue that some people seek to make it," he said.
"If you look at the sort of seats where it should have had the impact, like very safe Liberal seats like Julie Bishop (in Curtin) and others, we actually had a swing towards us."
