Tas treasurer signals freeze on wages

Tasmania's treasurer has signalled a public service wage freeze as he prepares his first state budget.

Peter Gutwein says the government is considering the measure for at least 12 months to save 500 jobs and $50 million.

He says wage increases could be restricted to two per cent once the freeze was lifted.

The state budget has blown out by more than $1 billion since former premier Lara Giddings made cuts in 2011/12, and public service costs have soared 80 per cent in the past decade, Mr Gutwein said.

"If we do what Labor and the Greens did and let the cost of wages spiral out of control, there will need to be harsher, more severe cuts later on to restore the budget to a sustainable position," Mr Gutwein said in a statement.

The Liberals said 500 public service positions would go in the lead-up to their election victory in March.

But since then they have argued the budget relies on another 1000 positions earmarked by the previous government being shed.

Forced redundancies have been ruled out.

Tasmania's Labor opposition said any move towards a wage freeze would be an act of bad faith.

"The three-year deal was struck (by the previous government) under tight budget circumstances and the two per cent agreed to is a modest increase," spokeswoman Michelle O'Byrne said.

Unions have expressed concern.

"It is totally unacceptable that a government should attempt to disregard legal agreements that have been made with workers," the Australian Education Union's Tasmanian president, Terry Polglase, said.

MPs, ministerial staff and senior executives have already had their salaries frozen for a year.