Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has asked the Defence Department to look for alternative sites for an expanded military training area after a backlash from central Queensland farmers.
The department had planned to acquire large parcels of land around Shoalwater Bay in central Queensland and the Burdekin in the state's north, as part of a $2.2 billion investment by the Singaporean Army in joint training arrangements with Australia.
The move has prompted an outcry from landowners who say the expansion would force them to give up prime agricultural land.
Politicians of all stripes have jumped on the issue, with Pauline Hanson claiming the plan to forcibly acquire the land "may be unconstitutional" and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk labelling the proposal "heartless and cruel".
Ms Palaszczuk, who on Wednesday evening attended a rally of people affected by the proposed compulsory acquisitions, said people, not politicians, would sway the prime minister.
"So if I was the prime minister I would be going up and talking to the people themselves, as I did as premier, sitting down with them and hearing their stories," she said in Gladstone on Thursday.
"It is people power that will change Malcolm Turnbull's decision."
Mr Turnbull seemed to have listened, later telling 2GB radio he understands the farmers' concerns.
"I absolutely can understand how way they feel," he said.
"I absolutely empathise with them and that's why I think it's important the arrangements that are negotiated are as far as possible ones that have been reached by agreement."
Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls had also come out against the acquisitions and claimed credit for the federal government's apparent change of course.
"While Annastacia Palaszczuk and Pauline Hanson have been squabbling publicly about this issue to get a headline, only the Queensland LNP has actually taken the fight to Canberra and got a commitment to find a compromise solution," he said in a statement.
"We need good relations with allies such as Singapore and the expansion would provide a significant economic boost to local communities but it is equally important to look after our farmers and graziers."
But Queensland Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne said big questions remained unanswered.
"Malcolm Turnbull says they will investigate alternative locations and sites? Who's in the firing line now?" Mr Byrne said.
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