Dr Anne Aly has been promoted into Labor’s new cabinet and given the small business, multicultural affairs and international development portfolios.
The decision was announced on Monday as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled his rearranged second-term ministry, which is over 50 per cent female with 12 out of 22 roles going to women (not including the PM).
The new cabinet includes the frontbencher Tanya Plibersek moving on from the environment portfolio to social services, and the elimination of cabinet minister Ed Husic. Mark Dreyfus has also been demoted, replaced by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland as Attorney-General.
Anne Aly will take over from the previous small business minister, Julie Collins, who has served since 2022. Collins will retain her existing position as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forests. Meanwhile, Victorian Senator Jess Walsh will take on the early childhood education and youth portfolios from Aly.
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, welcomed Aly’s appointment.
“I congratulate Dr Anne Aly on her appointment as the Cabinet Minister for Small Business and look forward to working with her on the implementation of the Government’s small business election commitments”, he said in a statement.
“There are many opportunities to further support small and family business at a time when many are reporting really challenging trading conditions, and I look forward to collaborating with Minister Aly and her colleagues to progress initiatives to ‘energise enterprise’.”
Aly’s latest promotion marks her first tenure in cabinet since she was elected to the Western Australian seat of Cowan in July 2016. In 2016, she became the first Australian Muslim woman, the first Egyptian-born woman and the first counter-terrorism expert to be elected to federal parliament.
The federal parliament website notes her electorate is occupied mainly by “retail and service industries, with some light industry, manufacturing and market gardens.”
Background and achievements
Aly was born in Egypt and emigrated to Australia aged two. Her family arrived at a migrant camp in Albury Wodonga and spent some time in western Sydney before eventually relocating to Perth.
Before entering federal parliament, Aly worked as Senior Policy Officer in Western Australia’s Department of Education and Training and Office of Multicultural Interests. She was also a lecturer and professor specialising in counter-terrorism at Curtin University and Edith Cowan University, and the author of dozens of research papers on Violent Extremism and Counter-radicalisation.
In 2011, she was appointed a Member of the Women’s Hall of Fame in her state, an organisation that recognises the contributions made by prominent women in their commitment to the betterment of fellow Western Australian’s.
In 2015, she was invited to attend and speak at President Barack Obama’s countering violent extremism conference at the White House.
“It was real validation of my research and practice in preventing and countering violent extremism,” she later said of the occasion.
In 2016, she became the first Muslim woman elected to Australia’s parliament, and sworn in with her hand on her English translation of the Quran. She was also the first Egyptian-born woman and the first counter-terrorism expert to be elected to federal parliament.
In her first speech, she reflected on her journey from Egypt to Western Australia.
“Today I stand here not just as the first graduate from the university named in her honour to be elected to the federal parliament but as the first of Egyptian-Arabic heritage… and the first Muslim woman,” she said.
“I mention the latter points not to claim any special accolades but because they mark a significant moment in the history of this nation, especially right now and especially given the circumstances of my election.”
“I was born in a part of the world where the passing of time is marked by war and where the birth of a girl child is greeted not with ululations or congratulations but by the clicking of tongues,” she continued. “But it is not the circumstances of my birth that define me. I was not born in this country, but I am surely born of her.”
In the same year, she was awarded the Australian Security Medal for her contribution to Australian national security, including her programs on radicalisation, violent extremism and counter terrorism.
Later that year, she delivered a powerful address on the invisibility of women in the political sphere at the Emily’s List oration.
“Too often I am told I must be quiet, a delicate flower, grateful for the equalities and opportunities afforded me because I live in Australia and not Saudi Arabia,” Dr Aly said at the time. “Too often I am told that I should be happy that I even have a place at the table. Too often I am told by men that I should have stayed in the kitchen . . . Too often I am told not to get angry, not to be a diva, not to call out a nong when he is behaving like one.”
“History is truly watching us, and we will be judged tomorrow for what we do today, so let’s find more women. Let’s build a movement bigger than any of us have ever seen. Let’s disrupt, let’s destroy the joint and when we celebrate wins, let’s make sure all of us have something to celebrate.”
In 2018, she published a memoir, titled Finding My Place, where she reflects on her youth growing up in Perth in the 70s, and the racism and bullying she faced at school. The book also charts the cultural divide she had to navigate as a young Muslim woman, balancing her Egyptian heritage with her family’s adapted Australian life.
In a 2020 interview, Aly said that she hopes to “leave the Parliament a better place for the next woman of colour (hopefully women).”
“I want to tread a path for them so that they can overcome some of the barriers and challenges that I have experienced,” she said. “I want to make sure that every person is represented, every voice is heard and every experience is counted.”
“I want to see a focus on intersectionality and a recognition that while we celebrate our achievements as women in Parliament, there are still many women who are locked out — women of colour, women with disabilities, women from diverse backgrounds.”
In 2021, she won the McKinnon Prize in Emerging Political Leadership for her work in reducing violence against women and children and exposing right-wing extremist groups to greater government scrutiny.
Aly said she hoped that her recognition would encourage more people — particularly women from diverse communities — to “understand that public service and government is open to anyone”.
“Indeed, I would encourage more people from different backgrounds to enter politics and public service, to bring a stronger diversity of views to our public dialogue and policy making,” she said.
Aly has also been an outspoken advocate for other female politicians of colour.
In September of that year, during NSW Labor’s attempt to parachute Kristina Keneally into the South Western Sydney seat of Fowler, she blasted the decision as “hypocrisy”, saying, “Diversity, equality and multiculturalism can’t just be a trope that Labor pulls out and parades while wearing a sari and eating some kung pao chicken to make ourselves look good.”
“For the Labor Party to be in a position where they are pushing aside a community representative from one of the most multicultural electorates is hypocrisy as far as I’m concerned,” she said at the time, showing her support of Vietnamese-Australian lawyer and candidate, Tu Le.
In 2022, she was appointed to Minister for Youth and Early Childhood Education.
In her new role as Minister for Small Business, Aly will be responsible for shaping and overseeing the policies and programs that will support the country’s small business community. With over 97 per cent of all Australian businesses being small businesses and employing just under half of the private sector workforce, the portfolio is a crucial one in sustaining Australia’s economic resilience and long-term growth.
As the Minister for International Development and Multicultural Affairs, Aly will be tasked with a range of responsibilities, including shaping foreign aid efforts, strengthening regional relationships, maintaining Australia’s national security and promoting multiculturalism.
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