Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says his government will never support an overall cut to migration numbers as state and territory leaders prepare to thrash out population policy.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will address the hot-button issue when he meets with premiers and chief ministers for his first Council of Australian Governments meeting on Wednesday.
"We could never support reducing the total intake, that's not something Victoria would ever back," Mr Andrews told ABC radio ahead of the meeting in Adelaide.
The government is talking up a "bottom-up" approach to population growth.
In an opinion piece in The Daily Telegraph, Scott Morrison said he wanted to look at drivers of population and challenges associated including migration, infrastructure requirements and service provision.
He wants states to provide data and plans to create a national framework taking in perspectives of all parts of the country.
"Since our current permanent intake is almost 30,000 a year below our cap, I anticipate this will lead to a reduction in our current migration settings as we move into next year," Mr Morrison wrote.
While Mr Andrews is against cutting the overall intake, he said a number had not been the focus of a pre-COAG dinner on Tuesday night.
Infrastructure funding and information sharing about population were the focus, he said.
"I don't issue passports, I don't issue visas, that's a matter for the commonwealth government," the Victorian premier told Sky News.
Population Minister Alan Tudge said the Commonwealth would ask state and territory governments for population plans by the end of January.
"What we want to do is see a better match between what the population growth is and what the carrying capacity is of those cities," Mr Tudge told ABC radio.
The NSW government has been lobbying for migration numbers to be cut as a solution to congestion.
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall wants population growth to stimulate the economy.
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