 Aquilina married Anne Michelle Sutcliffe in 1977, and together they had two sons and one daughter.Following the death of Anne Sutcliffe in 2003, he remarried Ann Elizabeth Moran in 2006.Elected as Member for Blacktown in 1981, Aquilina held a number of junior portfolios including Chair of various committees before being appointed Minister for Natural Resources in the Wran government in 1986.