Back in 2012, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed business tax cuts that created jobs but now he says they're not affordable.
The government seized on this, saying he knew what was right but was too weak to deliver it.
Labor MPs also faced the job of explaining Mr Shorten's change of heart, after a 2011 video emerged showing him selling the merits of a company tax cut.
The then-assistant treasurer was spruiking the flow-on impact of cutting the company tax rate, telling parliament it would increase productivity and investment.
"More capital means higher economic activity and higher wages," Mr Shorten said.
Subsequently, the government circulated another video clip of Mr Shorten in parliament in 2012.
"As Australia is buffeted by the economic affairs overseas, we understand that lowering corporate tax assists the creation of jobs. And what can be more important in this country than the creation of jobs," he said.
Mr Shorten took a different position on Friday.
"There's no comparison between 2011 and now. The truth of the matter is you can only ever do company tax cuts when the nation can afford to do them. That goes for any tax cuts," he told reporters.
The government plans to reduce the rate of company tax from 30 to 25 per cent over the next decade at a cost of $48 billion.
Labor opposes these cuts but supports giving tax relief to small businesses with an annual turnover of $2 million or less.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the government is unashamedly prioritising jobs and growth.
"The truth is Bill Shorten knows, in his heart of heart, what is the right thing to do here. He's just too weak to deliver it," he said.
Labor frontbencher Penny Wong insisted Labor's opposition to the government's plan to reduce business tax was about priorities.
"We just think we'd rather be putting money into Australia's schools, into protecting Medicare ... than a $50 billion tax break for businesses earning up to $1 billion," she said.
Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke pointed out the Liberals and Greens voted against the 2011 measure.
"You don't get these tax cuts for free. If you give it, it means other things hit the fence on the way through," he said.
"What Malcolm Turnbull is doing is saying that he then wants to, every year, change the definition of small business," he said.
Former ALP national president Warren Mundine, who now heads up the prime minister's indigenous advisory council, fears economic reform will go backwards if Labor wins government.
Talking about the birth of his great-grand-daughter last week, Mr Mundine wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "Labor's rhetoric will take Australia down a path where her taxes will be higher and her education will be more costly."
