Labor says the state government has budgeted 44% less for paramedic overtime this year than it spent last year, warning it could mean fewer ambulances on the road.
Right to Information data obtained by Labor shows paramedics worked 125,725 hours of overtime in 2025-26, at a cost of $12.7 million.
The government has budgeted $7.1 million for paramedic overtime this year, $5.6 million less than was spent.
It budgeted $6.9 million for paramedic overtime last year.
Labor MP Sarah Lovell said the shortfall was part of Treasurer Eric Abetz’s plan to take $700 million out of the health budget.
“This is deeply concerning because we know that there are not enough paramedics available to cover the shifts that are required,” she said.
Lovell said overtime was needed because Ambulance Tasmania did not have enough paramedics.
“That leaves two outcomes, either the same exhausted paramedics are pushed even harder or shifts go unfilled and fewer ambulances are on the road,” she said in a statement.
She said paramedics were “stretched beyond breaking point” and pointed to Labor figures showing cases with no ambulance available at dispatch rose 30% last year.
Relying on extensive overtime was not sustainable in the long term, Lovell said, calling for the government to develop a workforce plan with paramedics.
She said “in the short term, while that work is being done, the last thing we need is a cut to the overtime budget”.
Lovell acknowledged the government regularly budgeted less than it spent on health services, but said this year it also faced a $700 million savings target.
“It is a false economy to say that cutting $700 million from the health budget will help the health budget,” she said.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government had been employing more paramedics.
“What the Labor Party have just highlighted is that we’re continuing to invest in our health system and we have been employing more paramedics,” he said.
He said Tasmania, like other places in Australia and around the world, was facing increased demand on its health system and the government needed to respond to it.
Rockliff has previously rejected Labor’s claim of $700 million in health cuts, saying health funding would grow by $15 billion over four years.
