Bob Carr backs Tony Abbott’s call to scale back immigration, by Simone Fox Koob.

Bob Carr says he has been a “lonely voice” in the past when calling for a lower immigration rate to tackle population growth, as he backed Tony Abbott’s recent push for a reduction in the annual intake.

The former NSW Premier told ABC’s Q&A the growing pains associated with Australia’s ballooning population needed to be linked to immigration levels and said studies have shown the country’s skilled migration program had failed.

“I’m interested that the first poll I have seen indicates a big shift in public attitudes on this, it came out in recent months. It shows 74 per cent of Australians think there is enough of us already and someone who has been talking on ecological and economic grounds for less immigration rather than more, I find that interesting. That is the first breakthrough,” he said.

hat-tip Stephen Neil