Jim Chalmers said the government can’t ignore the cost of super tax concessions as the budget faces other pressures.

“We’ve got this big national advantage when it comes to super, we need to make sure it’s sustainable and we need to make sure we can afford the various concessions into the future,” he told ABC Radio National.

Chalmers said since becoming treasure he hadn’t tried to “pretend away” budget pressures, and tax elements of the superannuation system were one of them.

Tax breaks on super were introduced to encourage more people to save super rather than rely on the pension.

However, critics say the existing rules are being used by wealthy individuals to minimise their tax.

At the 2019 election, Labor proposed a policy to change super concessions and did not win office.

The treasurer said the government’s priority, as flagged before the 2022 election, was multinational tax reform and said superannuation changes would not necessarily feature in the May budget.

“We haven’t changed our view, we haven’t taken any decisions,” he said.

“But we should be up for a national conversation about the future of some of these concessions which cost the budget a lot of money.”

In a speech on Monday, Chalmers questioned the sustainability of superannuation tax breaks that are on track to cost more than the aged pension by 2050.