Soaring house prices and crowded cities have combined to convince a clear majority of Australians that the country’s immigration push must end.

Just 30.4 per cent of Australians now believe the country needs more people, according to a poll conducted by the Australian National University (ANU).

This was compared to 69.6 per cent who felt Australia did not need more people, a dramatic increase since a similar poll was done in 2010.

The collapse in support was most prominent among males with just 32.8 percent supporting a bigger Australia compared to 53.4 percent in the 2010 poll.

Most Australians support the notion of cultural diversity but did not want population growth to come at the expense of the quality of life of the majority, according to the survey.

The results confirm previous calls by local politicians for the country’s conservative coalition government to end mass migration:

END MASS MIGRATION | Gov, Labor & Greens refuse to acknowledge the dangers of mass migration #auspol MEDIA RELEASE https://t.co/LScQyndXAP pic.twitter.com/9zQeTzLtd5 — Pauline Hanson (@PaulineHansonOz) October 20, 2017

Lead researcher Nicholas Biddle said that crowded cities and the high cost of housing were the most common reasons given for not increasing Australia’s population.

“Nearly nine out of 10 people nominated the cost of housing being too high as a reason for not increasing Australia’s population, while 84 per cent of people said that cities are too crowded and there is too much traffic,” he said in a media statement.

“The policy and social context will always influence Australians’ views on population growth. Most people are now supportive of cultural diversity as a by-product of population growth.”

“On the other hand, geopolitics, defence and population pressures overseas are less likely to factor into someone’s decision than they might have in the past.”

Australia’s population growth is the largest it has experienced since colonisation.

In 1981 the Australian population was around 14.9 million people. By June 2018 it had reached 25.0 million, with the last five million of that growth occurring since December 2004.

Last year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he intended to cut Australia’s permanent migration intake by about 30,000 people, citing public concern about congested cities.

“They are saying: enough, enough, enough,” Mr Morrison told the 2018 Bradfield Oration in November.