The government, coalition and One Nation have each announced different policies to slash migration and rethink the role of international students and tradespeople in the economy in recent weeks.
Philip Ruddock, the longest serving immigration minister from 1996 till 2003 under prime minister John Howard, warns the value of direct community discussion has been overlooked.
"I don't think any minister before or after me has conducted regular consultations around Australia in the way in which we did," Mr Ruddock said.
"We would get the communities, the business lobbies, Australians Against Further Immigration. We get them all in the room, and we would discuss with them the way forward."
Mr Ruddock conceded agreement was rare but being listened to and included in the debate helped to create a common sense of purpose.
"I do lament that those who followed haven't seen fit to do so."
The former member reminisced on his time as immigration minister during a panel discussion promoting his book on the subject to a gathered audience in Parliament House on Wednesday night.
Former deputy secretary of immigration during the Howard years Abul Rizvi made up the second half of the panel.
He said current Immigration Minister Tony Burke is failing to explain and justify Labor's policy.
"The second problem that I've seen is we've entered into this era where there is no end of myth making in this space," Dr Rizvi told the audience in Parliament House.
"I'm not having a go at the Liberal Party here, but they put out a press release which said ... immigration is exploding, and they put some numbers to their press release, and their claim was fundamentally wrong.
"It took a two-minute check on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website to prove what was put out in a press release by the Liberal Party that they were wrong."
Labor's failure to correct these debates early is contributing to the disconnect with the broader public, Dr Rizvi said.
"I was interviewed repeatedly on radio and asked, 'Immigration is exploding here. Look, the Liberal Party says so,' and I spent ages trying to explain that was rubbish.
"Why is an old geezer like me explaining it? Why isn't the minister explaining it?"
Dr Rizvi said a government's ability to demonstrate it has control over immigration will determine policy success.
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