Raff Ciccone
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Raffaele "Raff" Ciccone (born 1 November 1983) is an Australian politician who has served as
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
for Victoria since 2019. He is a member of the Labor Party and was appointed to the Senate following the resignation of Jacinta Collins, making him the 100th Senator to represent Victoria.


Early life

Ciccone lived with his parents and brother in the Melbourne suburb of Huntingdale. His parents immigrated to Australia from Italy in the late 1960s. He received his education at local Catholic primary schools, Christ Our Holy Redeemer, in Oakleigh East, then at Salesian College in Chadstone. Ciccone went on to study for bachelor's degrees, in arts and commerce, from
Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...
and the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
. He joined the Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) at the age of 16 when in high school. Following graduation from university, Ciccone initially worked in financial planning. Then, he moved to industrial relations and employment law, becoming a senior official in the
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is a private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in each state and territory. Its membership is predominantly ...
(SDA). The role allowed him to advocate for workers in the retail sector, including fast food and warehousing workers. Notably, this included convenience store workers who had been underpaid by
7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...
. Ciccone was elected to the community health board of Link Health and Community (formerly MonashLink) in 2009, and from December 2017 served as the organisation's chair.


Politics

Ciccone joined the Australian Labor Party in 2000 and, whilst studying, worked as a research officer to Senator the Hon. Jacinta Collins. As a party member, he eventually became the vice-president of the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
in Victoria. He was unsuccessful in his attempts in elections, at the Monash City Council elections of 2008 and 2016, and on Labor's Senate ticket in Victoria at the 2013 federal election. When Senator Collins announced she would not be contesting the seat at the 2019 federal election, it created a
casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...
and Ciccone put his name forward for the position. Ciccone was appointed to the Senate on 6 March 2019, taking Collins' place, making him the 100th Senator to represent Victoria. In the 46th Parliament of Australia, he served as Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate and on the Parliament's Joint Standing Committees on Migration and on Treaties and became Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Temporary Migration. From 2020 Ciccone has also served on the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment and Growth. Ciccone was the vice-chair of the Australia-Italy Parliamentary Country Group. Since 2021, Ciccone has been a member of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee. On 7 August 2020, Ciccone was appointed to the ALP's national executive. Following the 2022 federal election, Ciccone became Government Deputy Whip in the Senate and was elected Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee. He was also appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee and Deputy Chair of the Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee. Ciccone is Chair of the Parliamentary Country Groups for Italy, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. He is also the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups of Fresh Produce; Forestry, Timber and Paper Products; Landcare; and Red Meat. On 9 April 2022 Ciccone was awarded honorary membership of the Hawthorn branch of the
Returned and Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia, also known as RSL, RSL Australia and the RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. History The League was formed in ...
for advocacy of veterans’ welfare and the establishment of a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. In an historic first, during the first parliamentary sitting week for 2024, Ciccone became the first father to bring his baby into the Australian Senate chamber. Ciccone was elected Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on October 8 following the resignation of Peter Khalil MP, who stood down to focus on his new role as Special Envoy for Social Cohesion.


Political views


Foreign policy

In October 2020 it was reported that Ciccone had joined an informal cross-party grouping of parliamentarians, known as the "Wolverines", who take a hawkish position on China. By 2022, he was known to be a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Ciccone has argued for Australia's agriculture industry to be considered to be part of national security. He is one of a handful of Australian parliamentarians who is open in their support for an autonomous, free
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
; known to be attending the Presidential inauguration of
Lai Ching-te Lai Ching-te (; pinyin: ''Lài Qīngdé''; born 6 October 1959), also known as William Lai, is a Taiwanese politician and former physician who is currently serving as the eighth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since May 2024. He is ...
in May 2024.


Environment and energy

Ciccone has strongly supported Australia's timber industry, arguing the industry can help to reduce the country's carbon emissions. He has criticised the Labor government in Victoria for their decision to phase out native forest harvesting by 2030. He is connected to a pro-resources grouping of his party, known as the Otis Group, and has argued against the ALP's opposition to nuclear power in Australia. He has argued that carbon emissions from agriculture should be reduced, requiring collaboration between government and the agricultural industry. Ciccone has criticised climate change activists for arguing that environmental interests and industry interests are opposed.


Industry and industrial relations

Ciccone has advocated stronger penalties against employers committing
wage theft Wage theft is the failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law. It can be conducted by employers in various ways, among them are failing to pay overtime; violating minimum wage, minimum-wage laws; the m ...
, a rise in unemployment benefits and for greater protection of rights for gig workers. He has been a leading supporter of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, directed to value-adding in the production of food and fibre. Speaking at its launch in March 2023, he argued that while COVID-19 had revealed our vulnerability to global supply chains, it also showed Australia's "great potential to improve our domestic capability."


Personal life

Ciccone was married to Dimity Paul, who was once chief of staff to Victorian government minister
Adem Somyurek Adem Kubilay Somyurek (born 25 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council currently representing the Northern Metropolitan Region. Somyurek was a member of the Australian Labor P ...
and stood as a Labor candidate at the 2014 state election. Ciccone is a "devoted" supporter of
Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...
. He owns an investment property in Huntingdale and Oakleigh East.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciccone, Raff Australian trade unionists Members of the Australian Senate Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Australian people of Italian descent Deakin University alumni University of Melbourne alumni 1983 births Living people People from the City of Monash Politicians from Melbourne