Bill Shorten has accused Malcolm Turnbull of using pensioners as a "human shield" as the major parties battle it out over a tax loophole for investors.
The opposition leader is trying to sell his decision to overhaul the franking credits system, which his colleague Chris Bowen has admitted will impact more than 200,000 pensioners.
The original scheme was introduced under Paul Keating to make sure company profits aren't taxed twice - once with corporate tax and again via personal income tax.
But changes under John Howard in 2000 allowed investors to get a cash refund from the government if their tax imputation was more than the tax they owed.
Labor will abolish the refunds if elected.
"We can't afford to pay out $8 billion of taxpayer money for mums and dads watching the show today to people who pay no income tax," Mr Shorten told the Nine Network on Wednesday.
"I've got to choose hospitals and schools and age-care facilities over paying people refunds for income they haven't paid."
Treasurer Scott Morrison has lashed the proposal, describing it as Mr Shorten's latest "tax smack".
He rejected the suggestion such investors are asset rich, arguing it is a "cruel con" by the opposition.
"We're focused on what people have to live on," he told Sky News.
But Mr Shorten hit back insisting he is choosing the battler over the top end of town.
