No opponents to Shorten, says Bowen

Bill Shorten won't face any opponents for the Labor leadership, according to one of his senior colleagues.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen - who acted as Labor's interim leader after the 2013 election - expects Mr Shorten to be elected unopposed if the party doesn't form government and its leadership is automatically spilled.

"You don't get that sort of election result that we've just had, I think, and then face a leadership challenge," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh said Mr Shorten had performed an extraordinary feat.

"The only problem that Bill Shorten's going to have when he walks into the next room of Labor supporters is getting the applause to die down so he can actually speak," he told Sky News.

"It's like landing Juno on Jupiter, what he's managed to pull off over the last three years."