Labor unhurried on migration policy over ramifications

A planned overhaul of Australia's migration numbers is still being worked through to avoid unintentional consequences to the community.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was due to unveil sweeping changes to Australia's migration numbers earlier in August in a speech to the National Press Club.

The address was cancelled at the eleventh-hour due to all the details of the policy not being finalised by federal cabinet amid internal disagreement.

Mr Burke confirmed the final details of the policy were still being worked through, but a date had not been set for it being made public.

"We are working through our some significant announcements with respect to immigration," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"If you simply did some measures, rather than working through something comprehensively, you get a behavioural change that doesn't necessarily fix the problem.

"Everything that you do in immigration has an extra consequence in other areas."

"I had believed that we'd get there in that time. We weren't going to get there in that time, and that's fine."

The rise of One Nation in the polls has spurred a re-think on migration by Labor and the coalition.

One Nation has pledged to reduce migration numbers to 130,000 a year, well below the government's target of 225,000 people.

The coalition is also yet to reveal its own migration numbers, instead previously calling for the annual intake to be tied to housing completion.

Opposition frontbencher Andrew Bragg raised eyebrows within the party when he suggested overseas migration be capped at 180,000 people in a speech to the National Press Club, which earnt a rebuke from party leadership.

Mr Burke said Senator Bragg's speech was an example of policy being made up on the run.

"The silliest thing is to get into the exact situation where you haven't completed the consultation, you give the speech anyway, and that's exactly what Andrew Bragg did," he said.