Barnaby Joyce allegedly charged taxpayers to sleep away from family home

National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Barnaby Joyce has allegedly claimed $372 per night in taxpayer money to sleep away from his family home. He reportedly stayed last year in Armidale, in which there was said to be no record of parliamentary business or media events at the time of his stay.

Armidale is 90 minutes from Joyce’s family home. Staying there meant he was 100 km away from his former wife and their four daughters.

The Daily Telegraph has published the figures, which come amid pressure that Joyce is facing with his job since reports about his affair with one of his female staffers emerged. Staffer Vicky Campion is now pregnant.

It was also reported that Joyce claimed up to 25 nights on the road in May and 25 in August. The figures can be compared to that of Treasurer Scott Morrison, who spent just 10 nights away from home in March.

Joyce's marriage to estranged wife Natalie has ended. He announced it in December at Parliament House in Canberra.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that the ministerial code of conduct had been rewritten. He also asked Joyce to “consider his position.”

The Advertiser reports that members of the National Party were having secret conversations. They were reportedly plotting to oust Joyce from his position. But while some members of the party are believed to be planning to get rid of Joyce, others have praised him.

Turnbull said he has “nothing to apologise for” in regards to Joyce. He looked keen to put to bed any suggestions of a rift.

The leaders of the Liberal and National coalition parties met on Saturday without the presence of their staff. Turnbull described the meeting as a “frank discussion between the leaders of our two Coalition parties.” He noted that the leaders have been working together for 95 years. He called it the most enduring political alliance in Australian political history and maintained that it will continue.

Turnbull also said that he had not apologised to Joyce as “there is nothing to apologise for.”

“I know there was a great excitement in the media that there was some Coalition clash, there are no issues between the Liberal and National parties, at all,” he said, according to The Guardian.

The prime minister could not sack his deputy. It is up to the Nationals MPs to choose their leader under the coalition deal.