National's immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse said Labour was "backtracking".
"We [the former National government] were very cautious about the commitments we made to the refugee programme for two reasons. One was the very reason that Iain Lees-Galloway is now saying - there is a significant resource commitment to the taking on of refugees including things like social housing. And the taxpayer invests $100,000 per refugee per year for the first three years of their arrival.
"So we thought it was very generous to increase it by a third when we did, from 750 to 1000. We got heavily criticised by Labour for that, and the Greens," he said.
"It's a backtrack with absolutely no timeframe to deliver on that promise."
Lees-Galloway said New Zealand needed to have the capacity to take refugees.
"What we need to do is make sure that we have the housing, that we have the capacity at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre, which we're already working on," he told Newstalk ZB today.
"We are very firm in our commitment to increase that quota and our commitment before the election was to do that during the first term in Government, and that is still my plan.
"We did recognise there would be capacity issues, particularly around housing … so it was always our plan to take our time and to make sure that we had the capacity to increase the quota."
He said the Government would make an announcement on the quota when it was ready and when the capacity issues had been sorted out.
The Government is due to next review the refugee quota in 2019.
Budget 2018 provided $6.2 million of new operating funding over the next four years, plus $7.7 million of new capital, for two new accommodation blocks at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre.
New Zealand is also piloting a community-based refugee sponsorship programme, separate to the quota, which has brought in 21 refugees so far.
Lees-Galloway was this week a signatory to a joint statement from immigration ministers from around the world committing to advancing community-based refugee sponsorship.
The statement, also signed by ministers from Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Argentina and Spain, encouraged other countries to join them in offering a warm and supportive welcome through community-based refugee sponsorship programmes.
It comes in advance of the 2018 United Nations General Assembly and agreement on the Global Compact on Refugees, which will strengthen international responses to the global refugee crisis.
Amnesty International campaigns manager Meg de Ronde said the Government hadn't decided whether to continue the pilot.
"The pilot programme is a great first step towards this international momentum for community sponsorship, but we need to make sure it becomes an annual pathway to bring more refugees to safety," she said.
"We are hopeful that this joint statement is a sign of things to come."
