Tasmania Police has issued a staggering 16,373, or 73 per cent, fewer speed camera infringement notices since July compared with the same time the previous year. 

Its latest performance report shows that only 1746 speed camera fines have been issued in the North compared with 6281 last year. 

Assistant Police Commissioner Donna Adams blamed technical issues with the ageing roadside speed cameras during 2012. 

Also behind the fine freeze were software problems with the 10 new speed cameras bought last November by police  for $600,000.

Yesterday the state government said changes in ``tactical methods'' had led to fewer camera fines, arguing that police had still issued 23,700 speeding infringements from 191 other detection devices this financial year. 

``The speed camera statistics need to be read in context,'' Police Minister David O'Byrne said. 

``I'm advised police are becoming less dependent on fixed speed cameras, and catching more offenders with other devices, like hand-held and car-mounted radar devices.

``Police are still catching speeders  but they're catching them differently.''

But this is not borne out by the figures, which show this financial year's non-camera speeding fines are eclipsed by the 34,407 fines issued in the same period last year. 

The three-year average for the number of non-camera fines issued from July to March is 35,714.

Mr O'Byrne could not say how much the bungle has cost the government in lost revenue. 

However, using the conservative estimate of $80 a fine (the lowest fine issued for a speeding offence), this financial year's 27,000 fewer speeding fines come  to about $2.2 million in lost revenue. 

The Police Association of Tasmania has blamed budget cuts, including the axing of a civilian-operated speed camera program for the drop in fines. 

Association president Pat Allen said combining traffic police with  public order response teams as a savings measure was always going to have a flow-on effect. 

``We told the government this would happen,'' Constable Allen said. 

``If you get rid of the civilian speed camera operators, who were very dedicated to their job, this is what occurs. You cut the police numbers, this is what occurs.''

Liberal police spokeswoman Elise Archer said Mr O'Byrne had reduced the ability of police to detect serious speeding and ``put Tasmanian road users at risk''.

Assistant Commissioner Adams said police used high-visibility policing to promote road safety in addition to speed cameras.  

She said the number of high-visibility vehicles had increased from four to 18. 

``There is also a greater emphasis on high-visibility patrols of our arterial roads, which has led to greater compliance with road laws,'' she said. 

Mr O'Byrne said the problem had been fixed.