The prime minister is under pressure to acknowledge the rising cost of living under his government rather than blame international factors.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said Scott Morrison should take some responsibility as Australians were being slammed by the cost of living crisis.
After the annual inflation rate was revealed on Wednesday to have jumped to 5.1 per cent, Mr Morrison blamed the pandemic and conflict overseas.
Dr Chalmers said it didn't explain away the Liberal-National coalition's actions during their nine years in power.
"The war in Ukraine doesn't explain or excuse a decade of this mob going after people's wages and job security and that's a big part of the problem," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"(Morrison) needs to take responsibility for once, not point the finger, not go missing when people need him."
Mr Morrison also dismissed comparisons between himself and former prime minister John Howard, who lost an election that coincided with an interest rate rise.
Australians are bracing for a potential cash rate rise for the first time since 2007 and three of the four big banks predict the Reserve Bank of Australia to announce the rise next week.
But the prime minister dismissed comparisons between the 2007 and 2022 elections, saying other factors were at play.
The current cash rate was at a historic low of 0.1 per cent, while in 2007 it was at 6.5 per cent and to draw equivalence between the two time periods was to misunderstand history, he said.
"We're in the middle of a global pandemic, with a war in Europe. Those situations were not in place in 2007. I think everyone would understand that," Mr Morrison told reporters in Cairns.
Mr Howard, who campaigned in the Brisbane seat of Ryan on Thursday, said it was "too long ago to draw those comparisons".
"There are always cost of living pressures," Mr Howard said.
Mr Morrison urged voters to stay the course with the Liberal-National coalition as cost of living pressures tighten.
In a time of great uncertainty with cost of living pressures, voters should return his government to power based on their track record, Mr Morrison said.
"Through the course of this pandemic, we got through this together because (Australians have) been making wise decisions and the government has been doing the same to back them in," he said.
"We have been wise stewards of taxpayers' money as well to ensure our economy is set up to perform in a very, very challenging environment."
But Dr Chalmers said while some issues causing rising inflation were global, the coalition pretended they could not do anything to address the lack of wage rises.
"Scott Morrison claims to be good at managing the economy. It is not good economic management if Australians cannot get ahead," he said,
"It is not good economic management if Australians are falling further and further behind."
Labor's economic plan, if it wins office, would include an audit of "waste and rorts" as well as crackdowns on multinational companies avoiding tax in a bid to make $5 billion in budget savings.
Mr Morrison campaigned in Cairns, in the marginal Liberal seat of Leichhardt which is held by 4.2 per cent.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese remains in isolation after returning a positive COVID-19 test last week, but will return to the campaign trail on Friday.
Mr Albanese will officially launch Labor's election campaign in Perth on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ABC managing director David Anderson has written to both major parties pitching a leaders' debate on Monday, May 9.
However, Mr Morrison told reporters he would be available for debates on the Seven and Nine networks, making a total of three encounters including the first with Sky held on April 20.
Labor wants a debate at the National Press Club in the final week of the campaign.
