Importation of flammable cladding would be banned under a future Labor government.
Bill Shorten is challenging the Turnbull government to block imports of polyethylene cladding when building ministers meet on Friday and has promised to impose the ban if the prime minister fails to act.
"We already know that unsafe cladding kills. We need to do everything we can to protect Australians from a tragedy like Grenfell in the United Kingdom," Mr Shorten said on Thursday.
The prime minister has already directed all premiers, chief ministers and government departments to beef up auditing of high-rise buildings to ensure they comply with the national construction code.
However, the federal government has previously baulked at the idea of an import ban.
"At the border it's not necessarily the case that you can predict that the cladding will be used for a particular non-compliant or non-conforming purpose," Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos told parliament last month.
"The point here is to work with the states and territories to have adequate controls and enforcement."
But the opposition wants the products banned.
"Each day the Turnbull government fails to respond to the widespread misuse of these dangerous products, more Australian lives are being put at risk," Mr Shorten said.
The Property Council of Australia has backed an importation ban and audit of existing buildings, while the Queensland government will push to prohibit the PE aluminium composite panels at the ministers' meeting.
Combustible cladding was blamed for London's Grenfell Tower fire in June this year, which killed at least 80 people.
