Tony Abbott plans to block 130,000 people from migrating to Australia - reposted by andre di cioccio

THE Coalition will slash immigration by about 130,000 people - dramatically ending bipartisan population growth policy in Australia.

The cuts will focus on the family and student visa programs.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will announce the cut today ahead of Sunday's leaders' debate.

"A fair dinkum debate about population can't avoid immigration because that's what's driving the increase," Mr Abbott writes in today's Sunday Herald Sun.

Mr Abbott's controversial policy to slow the nation's population growth is likely to spark an emotion-charged immigration debate with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Population growth, which is now 2.1 per cent, would be reduced to 1.4 per cent, the average growth rate for the past 40 years, by the end of the next term of Parliament.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said this would involve cutting net overseas migration from almost 300,000 in 2008-09 to 170,000 in three years.

"Fuelling population growth today must not rob future generations of the quality of life and opportunities we enjoy in the future," Mr Morrison said.

"We believe Australians are looking for payment up front on infrastructure and services before they will support a higher population growth."

Mr Morrison said the Coalition believed that while Australia was a nation of migrant success stories, "these do not justify a population blank cheque for the future".

While the Coalition doesn't put a figure on it, this would put Australia on track for a population in 2050 of well below 36 million, which was the forecast of the third and most recent inter-generational report from Treasury.

The then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, supported the target along with the idea of a "Big Australia".

Mr Rudd later back-pedalled on that figure and one of Ms Gillard's first acts was to reject a "Big Australia".

Ms Gillard has said a population debate is not an immigration debate.

Mr Morrison disagreed, conceding the Coalition was breaking the bipartisan approach on immigration.

Australia has the highest population growth rate in the major economies of the developed world, and higher even than population heavyweights China and India.

So far this year, the country's population has increased by almost a quarter of a million people, to more than 22 million yesterday.