Dr Anne Aly becomes property investment millionaire within a month of new role as small business minister

Anne Aly has become a property investment millionaire within a few days of being promoted to Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet. The freshly minted Minister for Small Business has more than proven her commercial nous with the sale of an investment property she bought in Wilson, about 9km south of Perth’s CBD, for $1.002 million. She and her then husband purchased the 407sqm of land in 2001 for $80,000 and are believed to have spent a similar amount building the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house. But it was a home Dr Aly later struggled to maintain as a single mother, previously revealing the enormous financial sacrifices she made to keep the property after she and her husband split in 2011. Finances were so tight in those days her children got only one treat a week — a $3 Happy Meal. While her property windfall is a far cry from the early days, it is an anecdote that will no doubt speak to thousands of small business owners who will look to her for relief in her new Cabinet role. She said passing the instant asset write-off for small businesses — which will help with their cash flow — is her first priority. “I have a diverse range of personal experiences and have overcome a number of challenges as a migrant, survivor of domestic violence and a single mother,” Dr Aly told The West Australian. “Those experiences shape who I am as a person, but also give me a keen understanding of the opportunities I have in my current role to make a difference.” Dr Aly learnt the importance of financial security nearly three decades ago. That moment came as a young, unemployed mother escaping domestic violence, while walking into a Centrelink office with an infant child and nothing else to her name. “I will never forget how that felt,” she has previously said. “It made me so determined not to be in that situation again.” She used bricks and mortar to pull herself up by the bootstraps, starting with a modest home that backed on to the train tracks in Canning Vale. After marrying her second husband, they bought the modest home in Wilson which she has just sold. She and third husband David Allen purchased in Madeley, where it is understood they continue to live. The pair also owned a unit in Belmont which they sold for $530,000 in 2023. Dr Aly did not want to discuss her investment property sale this week, but once explained that while landlords can have a bad reputation, she was proud her property investments had helped create a more secure life for her children.