KEY POINTS:
Former National Party leader Don Brash is on holiday in America while still being paid by New Zealand taxpayers.
Although Dr Brash left Parliament on December 12, his resignation as an MP does not take effect until next month.
He will continue to receive his $2355-a-week MP's salary.
He has acknowledged he might be accused of delaying his official departure to have a taxpayer-funded holiday, but said he did "not feel the least bit guilty about that".
Last night, the man who took over from Dr Brash as National Party leader, John Key, defended his predecessor still collecting a backbencher's salary.
Dr Brash is being paid a base salary of $118,000 a year, plus an expenses allowance of $13,500 a year, until he formally tenders his resignation.
As National's leader, he was on $216,000 a year.
Before becoming a politician he made just over $490,000 a year from the public purse as Governor of the Reserve Bank.
Dr Brash could not be contacted yesterday, but last month he said he intended to spend the remainder of his time as an MP answering letters and emails and taking a holiday.
Mr Key said Dr Brash's salary for the few weeks he would remain an MP was "nickel and dime stuff".
Dr Brash was tidying up his affairs in a relatively brief period of time.
He said 66-year-old Dr Brash did not take the New Zealand Superannuation payments he was entitled to while he was an MP.
"If anyone wants to create an argument that he is taking advantage at the taxpayer's expense, I could create the counter-argument that he would have been fully entitled to stay in Parliament until the end of 2008, assume no responsibilities at all and play no significant role.
"I think it is a stretch to argue he is doing anything other than acting honourably."
It was natural for Dr Brash and other MPs to take time off over Christmas, Mr Key said.
Parliamentary colleagues defended Dr Brash taking two months to sort out his affairs, and said that as party leader he would have built up an enormous backlog of paperwork.
"He has a mountain of correspondence to deal with, and it's not the sort of correspondence he's necessarily going to want to deal with once he's out of Parliament," Clevedon National MP Judith Collins said.
"Computers and access to things like that might not be available once he leaves Parliament, so he needs to deal with them now.
"The man has worked 24 hours, seven days a week ... I think he's entitled to a holiday."
Act's leader and Epsom MP Rodney Hide said he could not summon up any fury about Dr Brash's holiday.
"When I look at how the Government wastes money, this is just small cheese.
"We're having to pay for 121 MPs, and I would have thought the taxpayer got great value out of Don Brash."
Dr Brash is not the only MP who is having a taxpayer-funded salary while planing to leave Parliament before it resumes on February 13.
Labour list MP Georgina Beyer has also said she will resign.
Labour MP Taito Phillip Field is suspended on full pay while allegations related to immigration matters are investigated.
Said Mr Key: "I think it's a much more significant issue that Taito Phillip Field is off on extended gardening leave, doing absolutely nothing and with no intention to move off the payroll or have his position resolved."
