Barnaby Joyce claimed travel allowance for 50 nights in Canberra when Parliament was not sitting

Embattled Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce insists he can survive the scandal that has rocked his personal life and political career as Fairfax Media revealed he charged taxpayers to spend 50 nights in Canberra when Parliament was not sitting in 2017 - more than any other cabinet minister.

Official expense records show Mr Joyce claimed $16,690 in travel allowance for out-of-session nights in the nation's capital between January 1 and September 30, 2017. That is significantly more than top government figures such as Treasurer Scott Morrison, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Mr Joyce was acting Prime Minister for 10 of those 50 nights. Under the rules, Mr Joyce was entitled to claim $276 per night for official business as Deputy Prime Minister and $565 per night as acting Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

As Mr Joyce faced a sustained opposition attack in Parliament for the second consecutive day, he attempted to reassert control over his personal-political crisis, first by making a terse verbal statement to reporters, followed shortly after by a printed statement. In both he publicly apologised to his wife Natalie, their daughters and to his new partner Vikki Campion for the pain he has caused them.

He also dismissed reports of an incident at a Canberra bar seven years ago as untrue and "peddled by the bitterest of political enemies".

Mr Joyce also later apologised to the Coalition joint party room on Tuesday but signalled he has no intention of resigning, telling the meeting: "Every political career has a time of trial."

Labor, which had initially treated Mr Joyce's marriage breakdown as a private matter, used question time to ramp up the pressure on Mr Joyce and directly link Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to his deputy's scandal.

Mr Turnbull and other senior Liberals have been at pains to distance themselves from the scandal, placing responsibility for Ms Campion's employment by Mr Joyce, senator Matt Canavan and backbencher Damian Drum squarely on the Deputy Prime Minister's shoulders.

As more confronting details came to light of Mr Joyce's affair with Ms Campion - who is expecting their child in mid-April - Nationals expressed grave concerns over the contradictory message his choices transmitted on behalf of the Coalition.

Mr Joyce's colleagues described the affair variously as "embarrassing" and "a distraction". Even MPs who are close supporters of Mr Joyce are now questioning whether he will last until the end of the week in his leadership role.

Some Nationals MPs have indicated to Fairfax Media they do not want to move against Mr Joyce, and would prefer he resigned. Discussions have already begun about who would replace him, with Michael McCormack and Darren Chester named.

Former Nationals leaders declined to speak on the record, fearing it would simply cause more pain for their party, but none contacted expressed any confidence that Mr Joyce can expect his reputation to be restored "anytime soon".

Nationals MPs Ken O'Dowd and Darren Chester.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Joyce's extramarital affair with Ms Campion, who lived in Canberra throughout 2017, has been linked with his split with his wife.  

Mr Joyce's office blamed the high number of nights in Canberra on the fact regional Australian cities - such as Tamworth and Armidale in Mr Joyce's electorate - do not have permanent commonwealth offices like capital cities.

"It should be expected that the Deputy Prime Minister would use the Canberra office more frequently than those ministers who have capital city bases," the spokesman said.

However, Mr Joyce opened two brand new offices in his electorate in 2015, costing taxpayers $670,000. He opened a new electorate office in Tenterfield ($305,148) and a dedicated ministerial office in Armidale ($365,748).

Nationals MP Damian Drum arrives for question time. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Joyce's claim of 50 nights of travel allowance while in Canberra is more than any other minister of the Turnbull cabinet, and far more than any other minister of a similar level of seniority. Fairfax Media does not suggest any of the Deputy Prime Minister's claims were outside the rules that govern MPs entitlements.

Mr Joyce also claimed for 62 sitting nights - meaning he spent a total of 112 days in Canberra, out of 272 days, in the period examined.

In comparison, Treasurer Scott Morrison claimed travel allowance for just 23 nights in Canberra in non-sitting weeks, including 11 consecutive nights in the lead up to the federal budget in May. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann claimed for just 18 nights in Canberra in non-sitting weeks, including 7 consecutive nights before the budget.

Like Mr Joyce, both Mr Morrison and Senator Cormann are members of the powerful expenditure review committee and the national security committee of cabinet, which can involve extra time in Canberra.

Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop claimed travel allowance for just four nights in Canberra in a non-sitting week, while former deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash did not claim a single night.

After Mr Joyce, the next highest claim was by Nationals' Senate leader Nigel Scullion, who claimed for 43 nights in Canberra.

However, Senator Scullion is based in Darwin - a six hour flight from Canberra - whereas Mr Joyce is based near Tamworth, which is about 2½ hours away from Canberra. In addition, Mr Joyce has easier access to government VIP charter flights as Deputy Prime Minister.

Fellow Catholic conservative Cory Bernardi was scathing in his assessment of the crisis now dominating the Coalition, telling Sky News that voters have a right to expect two things from politics.

"One is that the Australian people will not get screwed by their government and two, ministers will not screw their staff," the Australian Conservative senator said.