Scott Morrison is expected to cut the number of migrants coming to Australia by up to 30,000.

Speaking at the Bradfield Oration in Sydney last night, the Prime Minister declared that “roads are clogged”, while schools and public transport in Sydney and Melbourne are “full”.

“Population growth has played a key role in our economic success. But I also know Australians in our biggest cities are concerned about population,” Mr Morrison said.

“They are saying: enough, enough, enough.

“The roads are clogged, the buses and trains are full. The schools are taking no more enrolments. I hear what you are saying. I hear you loud and clear.”

Mr Morrison said the government would look to reduce the yearly cap of 190,000 as recent immigration figures were about 30,000 below that limit.

“We’re running 30,000 below where it has been … It wouldn’t surprise me if any process that we went through would arrive in that sort of territory,” he said. “I believe that this is likely to end up in revising down the permanent ­migration cap in Australia. That would be my expectation.”

Australia’s population hit 25 million in August — far sooner than previous projections laid out. It’s expected that we’ll reach 36 million by 2050.

Sydney and Melbourne are expected to make up a collective 16 million of that — almost half.

Mr Morrison described these two major cities as a “victim of our own success”, calling for a “new discussion with state and territories and local governments about how we manage and plan for our changing population”.

“Far too often, planners have treated population as one amorphous blob, but that doesn’t work for Australia. We’re too big and diverse,” he said.

While he emphasised there was an economic benefit to temporary migration, Mr Morrison ultimately said he was concerned by the rate of population growth.

“I’m very concerned about the rate of population growth … not the existence of population growth, but the pace of population growth. The roads are clogged, the buses and the trains are full, the schools are taking no more enrolments … We can hear that.

“Talking about average population growth is like talking about average rainfall. It fails to recognise the different experiences and outlooks of cities or regions.

“In Sydney, migrants accounted for around 70 per cent of population growth last year. This has created its own pressure points — and pressure points in population always manifest themselves in housing and infrastructure.”

Our annual population growth currently sits at 1.6 per cent, which is slightly higher than a global growth of 1.2 per cent and the highest of the G12 nations.

Immigrants make up the majority of this increase, with statistics showing overseas arrivals account for 62 per cent of our population growth.

Mr Morrison said it was essential for migrants to move to areas where they could find a job. “That is a natural part of a national economy and government has no control, nor any desire for control, over that aspect of population,” he said.

It mirrors a policy his government announced last month which would require overseas workers to settle outside Sydney and Melbourne for five years.

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge echoed the PM’s remarks.

“Migrants assist the economy and per capita growth as well,” he said. “But we’ve got to get the balance and the distribution for the growth right.

“Nearly all population growth has been in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, whereas other parts of the country are crying out for more people.

“That’s why we’re saying we need a much more nuanced approach to this discussion... to understand exactly what the aspirations are and the carrying capacities, the desires of the big cities and the regions, and to try and build our population to support those aspirations.”

The issue of population growth became front-and-centre in February this year, after

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said it was time to look at cutting the permanent migration program.

“We have to reduce the numbers where we believe it’s in the national interest,” he said.

Later that month, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott called for our migration intake to be slashed from 190,000 to 110,000 per year — prompting a backlash from senior members of his own government and fuelling the debate.

Meanwhile, Mr Morrison is under increasing pressure to apologise to Pamela Anderson for “smutty” comments about his mates wanting to be “special envoys” to the US actress.

Appearing on Gold Coast radio station Hot Tomato FM, Mr Morrison had laughed off Anderson’s pleas made during a 60 Minutes interview earlier this month asking him to intervene and bring Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to Australia.

“I’ve had plenty of mates who have asked me if they can be my special envoy to sort the issue out with Pamela Anderson,” he said.

In response, Anderson labelled the Prime Minister’s comments “smutty” and “lewd” and last night Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson launched a blistering attack on Mr Morrison. She called on the Prime Minister to apologise to Anderson “for the sake of your two daughters”.