Tony Abbott has blasted Melbourne's African gang crime as he called for a dramatic reduction in Australia's annual immigration intake.

The former prime minister said violent thugs who failed to integrate into Australian society and find work were a 'problem' in the Victorian capital.

'There are these gangs, these ethnic gangs which are causing mayhem in many instances,' he told Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt on Tuesday night.

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Tony Abbott has blasted Melbourne's African gang crime as he called for a dramatic reduction in Australia's annual immigration intake

The former prime minister said violent thugs (barber shop brawl in Melbourne last year pictured) who failed to integrate into Australian society were a 'particular problem'

The Liberal backbencher from Sydney's northern beaches said while the 'vast majority' of immigrants sought the join 'our team', there were a small minority who hated Australia's democratic and liberal standards.

'I'm certainly very hostile to those who ignore our values,' Mr Abbott said.

'As the citizenship oath states, when you come here, you’ve got to obey our laws and respect our way of life and that’s, I think, the least we should require.'

He cited research from the Menzies Research Institute showing '58 per cent of refugees who have settled here in the past 10 years are living on welfare'.

The former journalist delivered a speech to the conservative Sydney Institute think tank on Tuesday night calling for Australia's net annual immigration intake to be slashed from 190,000 to 110,000 in a bid to ease pressure on house prices and boost stagnant wages growth.

The Liberal backbencher said a small minority of migrants ignored Australia's values (a man being arrested at Tarneit in Melbourne's west pictured)

Mr Abbott told Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt he had reduced immigration numbers when he was prime minister

Mr Abbott claimed on Sky News he had reduced immigration numbers when he was prime minister.

'I certainly managed the number down,' he said.

However in the 2013-14 financial year, when his Coalition government came to power, Australia's annual net immigration intake, comprising skilled migrants and family reunions, stood at 190,000.

The number of permanent arrivals fell to 189,097 in 2014-15, the only full financial year he was PM, figures from a Parliament of Australia research paper show.

Mr Abbott acknowledged his target annual immigration number of 110,000 was 'still very significant' and the highest per capital in the developed world.

It is also significantly higher than Australia's 20th century average of 70,000 a year.

Annual immigration was at that level when John Howard became prime minister in 1996, but it accelerated above 100,000 a year just six years later.