Shorten in the doghouse

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has joked he's in the doghouse with his missus for being on the election campaign trail on her birthday.

It was Chloe Shorten's birthday on Sunday.

"It was me, her and a couple million people," he told Hit FM on Monday.

Mr Shorten described first meeting Chloe when she was sent by her company to keep him off a building site to prevent the then-union boss talking to workers.

In the end she relented and let him visit, even offering him coffee and biscuits.

"I remember thinking at the time it was a pretty smart thing to do, rather than make a bigger issue," he said.

He credited her with being his strongest supporter.

Asked to say one nice thing about the Liberal Party and his opponent Malcolm Turnbull, he said the coalition was strong on national security and Mr Turnbull was "a very smart fella".