Lieutenant Donna Miller shines in Royal Australian Navy

Lieutenant Donna Miller, a nurse officer in the Royal Australian Navy, was headed for a life at sea.

Lieutenant Miller’s great-great-grandfather Ratu Loaloadravu Tubuanakoro was one of the famed Lasakau Sea Warriors from the island of Bau, who governed sections of the Pacific in the 19th century. He was born in Fiji and emigrated to Australia when he was three.

To benefit from Tubuanakoro’s outstanding navigational abilities and familiarity with the waterways surrounding the Fijian archipelago, French Captain Dumont D’Urville summoned the Fijian on board his ship Astrolabe in 1827.

The French captain was so impressed that he had her great-great-portrait grandfather’s drawn while they were at sea; a copy of this painting may still be found in the ship’s records.

Before moving to Australia, her father worked as a naval engineer, and her grandfather was well renowned for his skill in making boats. More recent family history in Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu has preserved the maritime connection.

Now serving on her first deployment with the Maritime Operational Health Unit aboard HMAS Canberra for Operation Vanuatu Help, Lieutenant Miller is continuing the family tradition in the Navy.

Lieutenant Miller chose the Navy over other services because in Fiji, we are referred to as “Kai Wai,” or sea people.

In terms of nursing, Lieutenant Miller was motivated by her mother’s work with her sick brother when she was a child and by a previous job working with people with disabilities.

“My mother nursed him throughout his renal problem. Therefore that affected me in my choice of employment,” she stated.

She earned two honours for her exceptional performance throughout clinical rotations with Queensland Health and Townsville University Hospital as she completed her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Central Queensland University.

She enlisted in the Navy in February 2022 and saw her first assignment to Vanuatu as an opportunity to use every facet of her background and profession.

To ensure that crucial medical supplies are delivered to the regions of the country where they are most needed, she has been collaborating with representatives from the Vanuatu Ministry of Health and the Vanuatu Police Force on board Canberra.

Given my cultural background, I have the privilege of helping build ties between the ADF and the Vanuatu people to ensure that we fulfil our purpose of assisting the Vanuatu Government and offering assistance where possible.

Being in the military is the highest honour in Fiji, and it plays a significant role in our daily life.