Former prime minister Tony Abbott has laid into Malcolm Turnbull and some senior members of the government, accusing them of being “clever with words” and getting their “knickers in a twist” over a news report about Australia’s migration policy.

This week The Australian newspaper reported Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton “proposed” to reduce the 190,000 permanent migration intake by 20,000 places in talks with Cabinet colleagues.

The article said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull overruled the plan.

Mr Turnbull has rejected the news report outright.

“The article, the claim in the article is false. Full stop. OK? Full stop,” he said.

Mr Dutton has since confirmed he held discussions with Cabinet colleagues about cuts to Australia’s migration program, saying the government is “alive” to debate about the impact of the scheme on house prices and congestion.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. Photo: AAP

“Whether there’s an increase or a decrease, or consideration around where those settings should be, that is something that’s contemplated from year to year,” he said.

“As you’d expect – and as every immigration minister would have – I have canvassed different options around the composition of the program.”

Mr Dutton said he would not be drawn into revealing Cabinet conversations.

“I’m not going into comments or discussions and who said what and who was in the meetings and the rest of it,” he said.

“In terms of the Prime Minister’s position, my position, there is no difference between us on these issues.”

But Mr Abbott has suggested Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop have been “clever with words”.

“I can’t understand why the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister are so nervous about admitting that the government had a discussion about reducing immigration,” Mr Abbott told radio station 2GB.

The member for Warringah said he had knowledge from “around the traps” despite no longer being a member of Cabinet himself.

“Why on earth the Prime Minister himself and other senior ministers have got their knickers in a twist to deny that Peter Dutton raised this issue has got me beat,” he said.

Tony Abbott has lashed out at Malcolm Turnbull over the PM’s response to the news story on migration. Photo: AAP

“About the only thing the Commonwealth government can do to take the downward pressure off wages, the upward pressure off housing prices and unclog our roads – given infrastructure takes a long time to build – is to scale back the rate of immigration.

“So you’d think that a sensible government would have been happy to discuss the rate of immigration.”

Mr Abbott said Mr Turnbull was behaving like a “clever barrister” and his denials could hurt the government.

“He’s made the government look tricky, and that’s not what the government should appear to be, particularly when there’s nothing wrong with having a discussion about bringing the immigration numbers down.”

Dutton says all options discussed

Mr Dutton maintains he supports the current intake figure but also confirmed the policy was regularly discussed at the highest levels of the government.

“I have had literally hundreds of conversations with the Prime Minister or with the Treasurer about taxation, about welfare, about immigration, all of that,” Mr Dutton said.

“We’ve canvassed every different aspect, as you would expect us to.”

Mr Dutton has acknowledged concern among some of his colleagues about the impact that immigration is having in communities.

“Of course there’s discussions that take place around what the figures should be, the benefits about different aspects of migration,” he said.

“There’s obviously a debate about congestion and about housing affordability and the government’s alive to all of those concerns.”

Labor boosted the permanent migration program by 5000 places in 2012, in order to encourage more skilled migrants to move to Australia.

Mr Dutton has stressed the 190,000 intake figure is not “set in stone” and was not reached last year.

“I would expect the number to be less than 190,000 this year anyway,” he said.

-ABC