It's a case of one for mum, one for dad, but think carefully about the impact of any more on the country.

Half of Australians believe couples should limit the number of children they have out of concern for how the nation will cope with a rising population.

And while two-thirds of Australians are happy with the direction the country is heading, a majority also say they want the population to remain at or below current levels, according to a survey by ANU.

It suggests Julia Gillard hit the right note by rejecting Kevin Rudd's "big Australia" push.



In what is believed to be the first survey on attitudes to family sizes in relation to handling population growth, the study found 30 per cent of Australians think couples should have up to two children only, and another 18 per cent think couples should think about having no more than three.

But the survey also showed deep divisions of opinion, with 26 per cent saying couples should have as many children as they like and 21 per cent saying the number of children in a family won’t affect the environment.

ANU political scientist Professor Ian McAllister, who led the survey, said people opposed population growth for a variety of reasons, including the cost to the environment, urban overcrowding and a lack of housing and transport.

He told news.com.au that because of long-standing bipartisan political support for immigration – despite differences on how to approach border protection – “the net effect is people aren’t very well informed about it”.

Prof McAllister said he wasn’t surprised by the findings on the role of family sizes in population growth, “since attitudes to fertility always have a component which is concerned with the environmental consequences of personal decisions.”

Population growth was one of the key issues in this year’s federal election, though both major parties support maintaining immigration at or close to current levels.

Greens Leader Bob Brown said something had to be done to limit population growth or the planet was in trouble.

"When I came on to the planet there were 2 1/2 billion human beings, there are now seven billion. We are using more than 100 per cent of the renewable living resources at the moment. Something is going to give."

The survey found a majority of Australians subscribe to this view, with most thinking the world's population is too large and doing environmental damage.

With Ben Packham of the Herald Sun

Originally published as Survey: limit family sizes to save nation