Senator Sam Dastyari should eventually be given a second chance after resigning over a Chinese payment scandal, a Labor frontbencher says.

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

In a statement Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the senator had paid a heavy price but still had a "bright future".

"He has a lot more to offer Labor and Australia," Mr Shorten said.

"I'm confident he will continue to make a strong contribution to my team and continue standing up for the things that matter to all Australians — good jobs, good schools, and protecting Medicare."

Andrew Leigh says Sam Dastyari should be given a second chance. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

Shadow finance minister Andrew Leigh said it was possible Senator Dastyari could eventually make a comeback.

"Of course he should have a second chance," Dr Leigh said.

"I think Sam has paid a heavy price for what he did, but he's somebody who has a unique ability to cut through.

"If the rule in Australia is that any mistake is a hanging error, then we're going to end up with a much more boring Parliament."

'A distraction from woeful performance of Turnbull'

Fellow shadow minister Stephen Jones was more circumspect about the prospect of Senator Dastyari's return to the frontbench.

"These are things for Bill [Shorten] and the party and the caucus to sort out, but look I think Sam has done the right thing," he said.

"In his own words, what's been going on over the last couple of days has been a distraction from the woeful performance of Malcolm Turnbull."

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told the ABC's AM program the Senator may eventually be given a second chance.

"Of course he has a prospect — while he remains in the Senate — of coming back," he said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said Mr Shorten should have demanded the senator's resignation and should not have waited for up to a week after the matter first came to light.

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"Who would have thought that Sam Dastyari had higher standards than Bill Shorten?" Mr Morrison said.

"I think that's disappointing because Bill Shorten should have had this sorted days ago because the facts of the matter were uncontested.

"This was quite an extraordinary instance and it was just surprising it took the Labor Party so long to see that there was a problem."

It remains unclear who will take over from Senator Dastyari as manager of opposition business in the Senate or as shadow minister for consumer affairs.

Transparency the key, not foreign ban: Taylor

Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor has called for political donations to be more transparent, as the scandal involving Senator Dastyari triggers fresh calls for reforms.

Labor, the Greens and some Coalition MPs have called for change.

Angus Taylor said political donations need to be disclosed not banned. ( ABC News )

Mr Taylor said publishing more information on disclosures would be a better solution than a foreign ban.

"I think transparency is the key," he said.

"I think there are big administrative difficulties with trying to impose a real foreign donations ban but what I do think is important is that these things are transparent."

Mr Morrison said while the Government was open to changes, it was up to a parliamentary committee on electoral matters to sort out the issue.

"We will allow that committee to follow its process, take submissions if that's what they wish to do," he said.