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Four children have died and four are fighting for their lives after a wind gust blew a jumping castle into the air at a primary school in northwest Tasmania.

They fell from a height of about 10 metres in the freak accident during end-of-year celebrations at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport.

The four children who died, two boys and two girls, were in Year 5 and 6. Five children are in hospital, with four in a critical condition.

"These children were meant to be celebrating their last day of primary school, instead we're all mourning their loss," Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine told reporters.

"Our hearts are breaking for the families and the loved ones, schoolmates, teachers, of these young people who were taken too soon."

Police and WorkSafe Tasmania are investigating the incident and a report will be prepared for the state coroner, who has already inspected the scene.

Commissioner Hine said the investigation would take "quite some time" and a number of people and witnesses needed to be interviewed.

"Our focus now is supporting those who are tragically affected by what's happened," he said.

Hillcrest Primary School closed for the day and told parents to urgently pick up their children not long after the incident at 10am.

Multiple ambulance crews rushed to the school and several rescue helicopters helped take the children to hospital.

Police initially reported one child had died before confirming other deaths later in the afternoon.

Counselling is being made available to families, the community and first responders.

Commander Debbie Williams said it appeared the children fell from a height of about 10 metres and described the scene as very distressing and confronting.

Bob Smith, who lives near the school, told The Mercury newspaper he saw kids on the ground.

"There was one really strong gust of wind on what (was) a beautiful calm day," he said.

"At first we thought it might have been an emergency services training exercise then the reality of what was happening kicked in."

The school was holding a 'Big Day In' celebration to mark the end of the school year.

"(The) tragedy is something that will have a deep impact on the northwest community," Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the accident as unthinkably heartbreaking.

"Young children on a fun day out, together with their families and it turns to such horrific tragedy. At this time of year, it just breaks your heart," he told reporters on the NSW Central Coast.

An online fundraising account to support the families had raised more than $24,000 by Thursday evening.

© AAP 2021

Queensland is closing a tax loophole on "southern speculators flipping properties" as the state treasurer trims the budget deficit on the back of surging coal and housing prices.

Cameron Dick says investors will soon pay land tax if their combined property holdings across the country exceed the Queensland's thresholds.

The treasurer says the change won't affect Queenslanders as it's aimed at "southern state speculators who are flipping properties at a furious rate".

"We think it's fair enough that families in Logan, Ipswich, in regional Queensland, that are being squeezed by southern state speculators, we think they should they should be given a fair go," Mr Dick told reporters on Thursday.

The treasurer has also halved the deficit forecast on the back of a surge in coal royalties and property taxes in his mid-year budget review.

The deficit is predicted to be $1.49 billion in 2021/22, down from the $3.48 billion expected six months ago.

"This is less than a tenth of the budget deficits in both NSW and Victoria," Mr Dick said.

Driving that deficit cut is revenue surging $7.7 billion more than initially expected to reach $68.2 billion in 2021/22.

That's mostly due to coal royalties hitting $6.2 billion, which is $2.9 billion higher than forecast on the back of higher international prices.

Premium coking coal prices hit a record $US408 per tonne in the September quarter as China, which is embargoing Australian coal, disrupted supplies by dipping into other markets.

At the same time Australia has found new markets for coal in India, Japan and Korea.

The state government will also pocket $800 million more than expected from stamp duties in 2021/22 due to surging property prices and sales.

There's no end in sight for home prices with the government expecting elevated prices to tip almost $20 billion in stamp duty revenue into the state's coffers by 2024/25.

Mr Dick said he did not feel sympathy for Queenslanders "doing it tough" given the tight housing market conditions.

"No, not at all," he said.

"I think our stamp duty rate, as I've said, our stamp duty regime is one of the lowest in the country.

"We've got one of the lowest tax burdens of any state taxpayer in the country, it is much cheaper to live in Queensland than almost any other place in the country."

Economic growth is expected to hit 4.25 per cent in 2021/22, up from 3.0 per cent six months ago.

Unemployment will fall from the current 5.25 per cent to 5.0 per cent by June 2023.

Possible headwinds to Mr Dick's forecasts include coal price fluctuations and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, particularly new variants like Omicron.

"The emergence of any more severe and/or transmissible variants could negatively impact consumer and business confidence and could pose a significant downside risk," the budget review said.

There's $600 million set aside for Queensland's pandemic response in the current financial year.

Total debt is now forecast to hit $105 billion in 2021/22, up from the $95.8 billion predicted just six months ago.

Debt will reach $126 billion in 2024/25, down from the $127.3 billion predicted in the last budget.

© AAP 2021

Four children are confirmed to have died after a wind gust blew a jumping castle about 10 metres into the air at a primary school in northwest Tasmania.

Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport was holding an end-of-year event on Thursday when several children fell from the jumping castle.

"I can now sadly confirm four children have died and four are in a critical condition," Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine told reporters.

The four children, two boys and two girls, were Year 6 students. Five children in total are in hospital.

"On a day when these children were meant to be celebrating their last day of primary school, instead we're all mourning their loss," Commissioner Hine said.

"Our hearts are breaking for the families and the loved ones, schoolmates, teachers of these young people who were taken too soon."

Tasmania Police initially confirmed one child had died, before reporting a second death in the early afternoon.

"Several children fell from the jumping castle. It appears they may have fallen from a height of approximately 10 metres," Commander Debbie Williams said at the scene earlier in the day.

"This is a very tragic event and our thoughts are with the families and the wider school community and also our first responders.

"This has been a very distressing and confronting scene."

Several rescue helicopters were used to transport the children after police units and multiple ambulance crews rushed to the scene around 10am.

Police have indicated counselling will be available to families and the community.

The school announced on Facebook it was closing for the remainder of Thursday and asked parents to urgently collect their children.

Hillcrest Primary was holding a 'Big Day In' celebration to mark the end of the school year.

Bob Smith, who lives near the school, told The Mercury newspaper he saw kids on the ground.

"There was one really strong gust of wind on what is a beautiful calm day," he said.

"At first we thought it might have been an emergency services training exercise then the reality of what was happening kicked in."

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein passed on his thoughts to the community.

"My thoughts are obviously with ... the parents of the children that have been injured and with the emergency services," he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the accident as unthinkably heartbreaking.

"Young children on a fun day out, together with their families and it turns to such horrific tragedy. At this time of year, it just breaks your heart," he told reporters on the NSW Central Coast.

© AAP 2021