Bob Carr has called for a halving of Australia's immigration intake, as the nation's population hit 24 million just after midnight on Tuesday.

The population milestone was recorded by the ABS's population clock, which adds one person to Australia's population every minute and 31 seconds.

As the number ticked over, Bob Carr, NSW's former premier and the former federal Foreign Minister, said Australia has the highest population growth of any developed country in the world. He said the growth will cause overcrowding in our cities, and undermine government policies aimed at making housing more affordable. 

Around 190,000 people were admitted to Australia under the managed migration program last financial year, compared with 70,200 in 1999-2000. China overtook the UK as our major source of permanent migrants in 2010-2011.

This number doesn't include our intake last year of 13,750 migrants from Australia's humanitarian program. "I'd like to see the refugee intake maintained at least," said Carr. "Everything I say is compatible with an ambitious refugee intake. I think we have got an obligation, a humanitarian obligation. I don't argue with that at all."

"Australia's got 28% of its population being born overseas. That is a wonderful thing. It is unqualifiedly good," he said.

But Carr said the country will experience a fall in living standards if the current rate of population growth continues, "Our population is growing too fast," he said.

Carr said new immigration is being crammed onto a 'narrow fertile coastal strip' on Australia's east coast. "Is it in our best interest that we add to the population of Sydney and Melbourne, for example, 100,000 each, every year?" he asked.

Carr said the Australian economy should focus on export-led growth, rather than expansion of the domestic market.

See also:

Can Melbourne build 63,000 new dwellings every year for the next 35 years?