Michael E. Miller

Sydney

Foreign correspondent covering Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Education: New York University, dual MA in journalism and Latin American studies; University of Chicago, BA in philosophy

Michael E. Miller is The Washington Post's first Sydney bureau chief. Before joining The Post in 2015, he covered South Florida and the Caribbean for the Miami New Times. He has reported from almost a dozen countries and won several national journalism prizes, including the National Press Foundation's Feddie Reporting Award and three Sigma Delta Chi awards for excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Latest from Michael E. Miller

Australia plans social media minimum age, citing mental health concerns

The government is considering a minimum age of between 14 and 16 for using apps without parental permission, but some experts warn of harmful consequences.

September 10, 2024

New Zealand’s Maori celebrate new era as 27-year-old queen is anointed

Nga Wai Hono i te Po Paki takes on the ceremonial role amid heightened tensions with the conservative government, which is rolling back “race-based” policies.

September 5, 2024
Nga Wai Hono i te Po Paki, the newly crowned Maori queen, attends the funeral of her father in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, on Thursday.

An FBI quest to return sacred human skulls stolen from a Pacific tribe

The repatriation comes amid a visit by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who said U.S. law enforcement assistance to the Pacific was set to grow.

August 29, 2024
A rambaramp effigy containing the skull of a man in one of five crates of sacred artifacts repatriated to Vanuatu after they were seized in New York by the FBI.

She was beaten and bullied for being trans. This pageant gave her pride.

In the Pacific nation of Tonga, the growth of Christian evangelical churches is hardening attitudes toward leitis: people born as men who live “like a lady.”

August 26, 2024
Tara Semi, a designer, puts a headpiece on Vea to accompany her dress made from discarded mosquito nets. The outfit would win first place in the environmental/sustainable category.

Australia offers U.S. a vast new military launchpad in China conflict

Australia is expanding its northern military bases, with U.S. support, to counter China's growing threat. Critics quip it’s become the “51st state.”

August 24, 2024
Philippine and Australian soldiers during an exercise in San Antonio, Philippines, in August 2023.

How Chinese investors tried to take over an Australian mining company

A struggle between an Australian mining company and Chinese investors has pulled back a curtain on the intensifying global conflict for rare-earth minerals.

August 20, 2024
A security guard at the construction site for a Lynas plant in eastern Malaysia in 2012.

Australia welcomes Julian Assange home amid warnings about press freedom

There was broad bipartisan support at home for Assange’s release, but some politicians also noted that press freedom has worsened in recent years.

June 26, 2024

Shark attacks are rising in Australia. Technology is helping stop them.

Australia is a nation of beaches. But a growing incidence of shark attacks is forcing authorities to turn to drones and artificial intelligence to try to keep beachgoers safe.

June 13, 2024
Swimmers at Bondi Beach.

Is Bougainville the next battleground between China and the U.S.?

The Pacific region is hoping a huge, abandoned copper-and-gold mine will be its ticket for independence from Papua New Guinea. But which superpower will back it?

May 1, 2024

Man kills 6 in stabbing attack at mall in Sydney suburb

The attacker, whom police identified as Joel Cauchi, 40,stabbed several people at Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction mall before being shot dead by police.

April 13, 2024