Crime does pay, and the 45 million dollars from the proceeds of crime in the Government coffers are being opened up for bids

Until now, the money's largely been used to fight crime, but Justice Minister Andrew Little says the ill-gotten gains should be spread more widely.

Little wants the funds to go into alcohol and drug treatment for criminals and victims, as well as into mental health, and addressing the damage crime does to communities.

He says they still want to focus on fighting crime, particularly organised crime, but they want to do other stuff to deal with offending as well.