John Aquilina was born in Malta and migrated to Australia with his parents and younger brother.  He graduated from Sydney University, and then worked as a high school teacher in public schools for almost ten years. John was elected Mayor of the Municipality of Blacktown in 1977. He worked hard to secure the Proclamation of Blacktown as a city. This occurred in 1979 at which time John became the first Mayor of the City of Blacktown. In 1981 he was elected as the State Member for Blacktown and in 1991 as the State Member for Riverstone. John retired from Parliament on the day before the elections held on March 26, 2011. John’s final executive responsibilities as a Member of Parliament were as Leader of the House in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier. In the past he has served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Youth and Community Services, Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for Land and Water Conservation, Minister for Natural Resources and Minister Assisting the Premier on Ethnic Affairs.  John was also Shadow Minister for Education and Training between 1988 and 1995. Mr. Aquilina has visited China in an official capacity on several occasions. This included twice as the Minister for Education and Training to sign various contracts such as for the exchange of teachers, as well as for the signing of Memoranda of Understanding. On another occasion, as Speaker of the NSW Parliament, Mr Aquilina led a Joint Delegation of Members of Parliament to various key Chinese National and Provincial centres. While Leader of the House, Mr Aquilina visited Shanghai as the Guest of the Australian – Shanghai Association, and launched a landmark publication on indigenous Chinese and Australian art at the Australian Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo. He also attended a major conference of business, industrial and political leaders in Changchun City.

On November 1, 2013, at the invitation of the Government of The Republic of Malta, John took up the position of High Commissioner to India for Malta, resident in New Delhi. Additionally, John was the High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to Nepal, resident in New Delhi. He was subsequently invited by the Government to become Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to China, and moved to Beijing from New Delhi with his wife Ann on December 17, 2015. Ambassador Aquilina presented Credentials to President Xi Jinping on February 29, 2016. On November 15, 2016 he also presented his Letter of Credence as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to Mongolia, resident in Beijing, and on January 8, 2018 as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to the Philippines, resident in Beijing. He presented his Letter of Credence as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to Cambodian in August, 2018, and to Vietnam in January, 2019.