Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated he is willing to change political donation laws, following renewed calls from the Federal Opposition.

Key points: Dastyari incident renews debate over political donation reform

Dastyari incident renews debate over political donation reform Pyne says foreign donations should be accepted in some instances

Pyne says foreign donations should be accepted in some instances Pyne says he was open to having discussion about reform

Sam Dastyari resigned from the shadow ministry on Wednesday after admitting he asked for a payment from a Chinese-based company to cover a $1,600 personal debt.

He had also declared Yuhu Group, a subsidiary of a state-linked operation based in China, helped settle a legal matter for him in 2014.

The incident has renewed debate over the need for reform of the political donation system, which has seen both Labor and Liberal branches receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chinese-linked organisations and individuals.

Mr Turnbull said on Thursday he had long-held views about potential changes to donations to political parties, saying they should be limited to people who are on the electoral roll.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Australia-ASEAN Summit, he told reporters there would be "big legal issues and indeed some constitutional issues" involved in reform.

"You would exclude not simply foreigners, but you would exclude corporations and you'd exclude trade unions," he said.

"It is a very complex issue, however, and it is something that the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters should look at very carefully."

Earlier, Government frontbencher Christopher Pyne said it was "perfectly justifiable" for political parties to receive campaign donations from foreign donors, but they should not pay personal debts.

Christopher Pyne says it is "perfectly justifiable" for political parties to receive donations from foreign donors. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

The Liberal Party has also received donations from Yuhu Group, but Mr Pyne told the ABC foreign donations should be accepted in some instances.

"A campaign donation is perfectly justifiable, that doesn't compromise either the Liberal Party or individual MPs within it," he said.

"People are entitled to support the political party of their choice."

Mr Pyne said he was open to having discussion about reform, echoing comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce earlier this week.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the issue of donation reform was a matter for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters and the Special Minister of State.

Donations transparency 'a wooden stake to a vampire'

The Government is continuing its attacks on the Opposition in the wake of Senator Dastyari's resignation, accusing Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of failing to act against the former frontbencher and being prepared to tolerate his activities.

A company with links to the Chinese Government paid a $1,600 travel bill for Senator Sam Dastyari. ( AAP: Dean Lewins )

But Labor is using the incident as a launch pad to push for reform, saying Senator Dastyari's actions were a mistake, but one made within the rules.

Mr Shorten told reporters in Sydney on Thursday that Mr Turnbull had an opportunity to "restore some faith in the political process".

He said political donation reform would be addressed by Labor when Parliament returned next week.

"We have an issue of foreign donations in this country," he said.

"Senator Dastyari has stepped down, now we can focus on the bigger picture."

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Labor wanted to ban foreign donations and reduce the threshold for disclosing donations, currently set at $13,200.

Mr Dreyfus told the ABC that the limit should be set at $1,000, in addition to real time disclosures.

But he refused to be drawn on whether Labor would refuse accepting foreign donations ahead of any legislative changes.

"We want to change the rules for all political parties," he said.

"We want Malcolm Turnbull on his return to Australia to sit down with it."

Labor's policy also includes banning anonymous donations above $50 and introducing new offences for abuses of the disclosure process.

Questions had been asked over why Senator Dastyari asked the organisation to pay his bill, something he would not be drawn on during Tuesday's press conference.

He told Channel Nine on Thursday, "I had a bill, I didn't want to pay the bill".

"I asked them to pay it because I didn't want to pay it, and frankly that was wrong, that's a mistake," he said.

"I'm paying a price for a mistake."