Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Last month, delegates to the Victorian branch conference of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association voted unanimously to bestow life membership on Ada Scibilia and Nola Jones, and I wish to acknowledge them today in the Australian Senate.

Ada and Nola have made significant contributions not just to the SDA but to retail workers and the labour movement more broadly. Joining the union in 1984 at Myer Melbourne, Ada represented members as a delegate. It was from these beginnings on the shop floor that she later came to work as an information officer and organiser and later in the WorkCover team, where I got to know her, before she retired last year. She was elected president of the SDA Victorian branch in 2014. For her part, Nola joined the SDA in 1989 at Target Narre Warren. She became a delegate and continued to work at the same store until retiring in 2018. In that time, Nola was elected a branch conference delegate and to state council. Nola did a fantastic job advocating for members throughout her career. With almost 70 years membership between them, both Ada and Nola have selflessly contributed their time to improve the conditions of working people in retail. I congratulate them both on becoming life members of the union and thank them for their service. May their dedication be an example all workers can be inspired by and seek to faithfully emulate. Thank you.