Tasmania state budget 2025: Everything you need to know

Tasmanian treasurer Guy Barnett has delivered his no-frills first budget. WHAT’S IN IT >>

Treasurer Guy Barnett delivers the 2025 Tasmanian state budget. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Treasurer Guy Barnett has handed down a decidedly no-frills first Tasmanian budget, forecasting a $1 billion state deficit and predicting a return to surplus in 2029/30.

Under the slogan Building a Better Tasmania, the 2025/26 budget includes a 7.34 per cent rise in government spending to $10.460bn, with revenues up 5.59 per cent to $9.452 billion.

The budget deficit is forecast to top $1.008 billion in 2025-26, followed by $850.1m, $396.5m, and $236.0m in the following financial years.

And the state’s net debt will continue to rise, from $7.361 billion in 2025/26, to $10.789 billion by 2029/30, reflecting the Treasurer’s stated desire to avoid a “slash and burn” budget this year.

Treasurer Guy Barnett delivers the 2025 Tasmanian state budget. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“This budget is about building a better Tasmania now and for the future, and investing in the things that matter, like health, housing, education,” Mr Barnett told a press conference.

“It’s about building a strong economy. It’s about supporting families, about backing business and building stronger communities.

“We could have taken a slash and burn approach, to get to a surplus tomorrow or even next year, but … we have committed to the things that matter for Tasmanians, like health, housing, education, and cost of living.

“We’ve thought about this very carefully … and there is a sensible pathway to surplus through with measures that we’re putting in place.”

Health once again took the lion share of budget spending, with the $3.545 billion outlay representing 34 per cent of total expenditure, with the government also allocating $2.417 billion, or 23 per cent of the budget to education, $1.651B on infrastructure, and $503.2m on transport.

The health outlay was a 12.75 per cent increase on last year, with the education spending up 4.68 per cent.

The government has estimated Tasmania will receive $3.78B in GST revenues in 2025-26, an increase of $259.1m on the amount forecast for the previous financial year.

What you need to know in a glance

– $6.7m for delivery of food relief programs

– $2b for education this year

– $70m over next four years for elective surgeries

– $1.6b towards roads and bridges over next four years

– $14.5b health spend over next four years

– $550m towards cost-of-living relief measures in 2025-26

– $10b in debt in next four years

– $1b deficit in 2025-26

– $367m in discounts and concessions on rates, water, transport and energy

– $33m to maintain and upgrade visitor experiences in state parks

INFRASTRUCTURE

New renders of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium, home of the Tasmanian Devils.

Roads and bridges across the state again dominate the $3.5b spending on the state’s infrastructure over the next four years, including the Macquarie Point development’s Northern Access Road raking in a bill of $75.9m.

This year’s budget allocates over $1.6b for infrastructure investment in Tasmania – a $640m and 48 per cent increase in infrastructure spending compared to 2024-25’s estimated spend of $1.01b.

This is part of a projected $3.5b spend on infrastructure over the next four years, with $1.6b towards roads and bridges in this sum.

HEALTH:

The Emergency entrance at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: Linda Higginson

The Liberals will pump $14.5bn into the health system over the next four years, spending big on reducing the elective surgery backlog and redeveloping the state’s four major hospitals.

Total government expenditure on health will increase by 12 per cent across 2025-26 and the forward estimates.

Health receives the most funding of all government sectors, accounting for 34 per cent of total government expenditure.

An additional $942m is provided in the 2025-26 state budget to address rising demand for health and mental health services.

EDUCATION:

Premier Rockliff and Education Minister Jo Palmer serve students breakfast at East Ulverstone Primary School. Scenes from the government's community cabinet in Ulverstone on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Almost $300m will be spent upgrading 25 Tasmanian education facilities over the next four years, including Lauderdale, Princes Street, and Rosetta primary schools.

The 2025-26 state budget provides $297m across the forward estimates for capital works at government school sites.

Schools set to receive upgrades include Clarence High School, Dodges Ferry Primary School, East Derwent Primary School, Lauderdale Primary School, Lindisfarne North Primary School, Princes Street Primary School, Risdon Vale Primary School, and Rosetta Primary School.

Originally published as Tasmania state budget 2025: Everything you need to know