Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦

Branded beef, agrifoodtech, Nuffield scholar, project manager, x-rugby #2, ideas girl, investor, Queenslander, 2nd-gen Ukrainian-Aussie 🖤 #oysterblade4thewin

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

Just because I share something, it doesn't mean it's an endorsement or my opinion. Sometimes, I just share stuff that's interesting or thought provoking. I am capable of digesting content that isn't my predetermined opinion, as are you. Would all the Judge Judy's pls calm down 🤦🏽‍♀️

[Simon Maechling @simonmaechling]

Today we celebrate the 111th birthday of Norman Borlaug. The man who fed the world.

Borlaug developed high-yield, disease-resistant wheat that sparked the Green Revolution, saving over a billion lives from hunger.

Happy Birthday, Norman Borlaug - hero of humanity.

[Matt Dalgleish @Meat_Watcher]

Registrations for nearly 1,000 US beef, pork & poultry plants expired on March 16. While the pork and poultry sector was renewed last week, there is no word yet from China’s General Administration of Customs regarding export licensing for beef plants.

[Martin Murray @MartinMurray_Ag]

I wrote a proposal to @NSWFarmers a year or two ago to do this. Called it “The Crop Tour” put together a cheap and easy website with a page outlining each crop and a QR code from sign linking you to the page.

[David Pocock @DavidPocock]

75% of Australians support a total ban on gambling ads, and yet both major parties have failed to act.

This is a clear example of the Govt listening to vested interests rather than supporting the public interest.

[PoliticsVideoChannel @politvidchannel]

VIDEO: Top Tesla investor Ross Gerber: “I think Tesla needs a new CEO.”

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

Good read @sabasinai 🧐 I wonder how flat out all those international trade staff are right now, having to hastily hustle alternative markets and activate nascent relationships in this volatile time period 🤔

[ASPI @ASPI_org]

'The shakeup of the global trade system may require us to re-evaluate our export posture; Australian governments and businesses must prepare for this,' writes @sabasinai. https://t.co/71FMrK1fcx

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

The tallest tree in Wales got damaged by a storm and was supposed to be cut down, instead chainsaw artist Simon O'Rourke found a better solution to symbolise the tree's last attempt to reach the sky.

[ABC News @abcnews]

Hundreds of abattoirs in the United States appear to have had their export licences to China extended in a last-minute update by China customs. But questions remain for the beef trade. https://t.co/wRYBrmc6qi

[National Farmers' Federation @NationalFarmers]

Today we have joined more than 30 organisations to launch a powerful statement calling for government action to address the mental health crisis in agriculture.

This coalition of health professionals and agricultural bodies have united to call for an immediate investment of $50 million over 5 years.

To join the coalition and support mental health and wellbeing in agriculture, contact us: 02 6269 5666 or [email protected]

For further information on where to access farmer-friendly help, visit https://t.co/W6a07RovHG or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Read the joint statement at https://t.co/6dV36mmuS2 ➡️ https://t.co/lDyGacHJj8

[Heli Burke @BurkeHellibee]

@Baumann_Mac @karolineleavitt Tote up everything France spent on the American revolution, translate into todays terms, add interest and send em the bill

[AgriFutures evokeAG @evokeAG]

🚁 A global first at #evokeAG2025!
From the stage to the station, @LukeChaplain, Founder of @SkyKelpie showcased a live #drone #muster, proving how tech is revolutionising #livestock management.
🔥 Watch the full session now - https://t.co/gmggkfTSyN

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

@HallRaelene Scary!

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

I'm so pissed off that these shenanigans in another country are affecting my institutional superannuation in a fairly significant way. Worried about what the impact will be over the course of the rest of the year. Thinking about pulling it all out into another vehicle 😬

[Gillian Fennell @stationmum101]

I wonder how many other people are only now realising the impact this new administration is going to have on their entire lives for the next 4 years?

[cap.eth @TheCapHimself]

I’ve never been more proud of my country and my people 🥹

- ~6M people in Serbia.
- ~800k people protesting.
- 0 crimes, 0 fights, 0 broken shit.
- Biggest protests in Serbian history.
- One of the biggest protests in Europe.

I salute you, fellow students 🫡

[Visioner @visionergeo]

🇷🇸 Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, right now.

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

"Monopsonistic" describes a market situation where there's a single buyer (monopsonist) for a good or service, giving them significant power to influence prices and potentially exploit sellers.

You're welcome 🙂

[Malcolm Turnbull @TurnbullMalcolm]

There are news reports today that Australian government officials are concerned that the Trump administration will pressure Australia over its monopsonistic Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme which keeps drug prices in Australia lower than they otherwise would be - the PBS does not make drugs eligible for government subsidy unless the price is agreed.

This is not news. big pharma has never liked our PBS. This piece of history from the Obama years and the negotiations over the Trans Pacific Partnership is from my memoir “A Bigger Picture”

“I became prime minister just as the negotiation of the TPP was concluding in Atlanta and we came under enormous pressure from the Americans to agree to amendments to patent protection for biologics, a new and increasingly important type of drug created by complex biological, as distinct from chemical, processes. The amendments would benefit the immensely influential US pharma lobby but would inevitably be politically damaging for us as an increase in the cost of some drugs in Australia was a likely outcome.

“We were only just getting the China Australia Free Trade Agreement through the parliament in the teeth of furious opposition from the unions and we simply didn’t have the political capital available to have a fight over the TPP too. President Obama called me to press the case and did so with his characteristic quiet charm. But I couldn’t help him; we wouldn’t change our law relating to data protection for biologics. It was political kryptonite for us.

Barack said that meant the TPP could fall over and we’d be blamed. I took a deep breath and quietly replied, ‘Well, Mr President, like you, I think the TPP is vital for our region. But you know, nobody is marching in the streets here saying “Sign the TPP”, but they sure will be marching if they think we’re going to put up the price of drugs on our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Those pharma companies hate our PBS because we use our monopoly buying power to force down prices – but that’s not my problem. Sorry, no can do.’

Barack Obama entirely understood the politics. And he acknowledged he was an unlikely advocate for big pharma. We just moved on to talking about Syria and other security issues. I then gave Andrew Robb (our Trade Minister) authority to stonewall on the issue. ‘Just say “no” to drugs, Andrew,’ I told him.

Our ambassador in Washington, Kim Beazley, reported to me on 3 October that, following my call with the president, Obama’s National Security Council trade adviser was trying to elevate the issue to one of national security, and was arguing that our standing our ground wouldn’t just put the whole deal but the alliance at risk. We were warned that the atmospherics with the Americans would likely be poisonous if talks collapsed.

Peter Varghese, secretary of DFAT, Julie Bishop our Foreign Minister , Andrew Robb and I talked. We resolved that we would not be spooked by the US pressure and concluded the idea that Australia was standing in the way of the US rebalance in the Asia Pacific was self-serving bunkum. The USA was trying to knock us off one by one on biologics, and Australia was by no means the only TPP party that could not accept eight years. We recognised that if we failed in Atlanta it wouldn’t be because of Australia. So, concluding our position on biologics was both entirely defensible and in our national interest, I instructed our negotiators to hold firm. And we did.

The deal was signed in Atlanta – only to be abandoned a year later by President Trump. But it was a reminder that, especially when it comes to trade, nations – particularly big ones – will ruthlessly pursue their own interests. It was important that at our first encounter, Obama saw that I was just as committed to Australia’s interests as he was to America’s.“

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

WTAF is this narrative?!! I'm genuinely gobsmacked by the way the USA are behaving.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump on Greenland: "Denmark is very far away. A boat landed there 200 years ago or something and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is, actually ... we really need it for national security ... maybe you'll see more and more soldiers go there."

[Sonya Popowycz Comiskey 🇺🇦 @QSP73Z]

😮 Hundreds of abattoirs in the United States are at risk of being potentially being banned from exporting meat to China, because their China export licences are due to expire this weekend.
https://t.co/XhGbVHtDH8

[Be the change you want to be @AgBioWorld]

You’re a sheep