The Premier wants to halve the state’s migration intake, saying rates have “ballooned beyond what anyone anticipated”.

Gladys Berejiklian is welcoming an invitation from the Prime Minister for states to contribute to the population debate.

Ms Berejiklian tells Ray Hadley her Armenian heritage gives her the perfect platform to launch respectful discussion.

“I want to stress Ray, me and my family are the beneficiaries of immigration. I always want immigration to continue, I always want NSW to be welcoming.

“But we need to take a breather because the numbers have ballooned beyond what anyone anticipated.

“They’ve essentially doubled in the last decade. We’ve gone from 45,000 10 years ago to just under 100,000 today, every year.

“We are building more in this state than we’ve ever done, we’re going gangbusters. Roads, rails, hospital, schools and we’re playing catch up. I want us to do beyond catch up.

“I feel that, given my background, I can respectfully enter the debate without casting aspersions on anybody.”

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