BBC - Miriam Margolyes Almost Australian Series 1 (2020) Part 3 The Lucky Country

New Australian citizen and celebrated film star Miriam Margolyes embarks on a 10,000-kilometre, two-month journey to discover what it means to be Australian today.

Part 3 The Lucky Country

On the final part of her journey, Miriam visits the Gulf of Carpentaria to see where the wealth of the Lucky Country comes from. At the McArthur River Mine, Miriam is taken aback by the enormity and scale of this operation. Miriam can't help but wonder what happens when the luck runs out.

In Borroloola, Miriam meets one of the region's biggest landholders. Frank's father bet his life savings on a horse race and used his winnings to buy Seven Emu. However, less than a month ago, the entire place was flattened by a cyclone. Miriam discovers that Frank is cynical about Australia being the Lucky Country.

Miriam arrives in suburban Brisbane, where she meets one of the wealthiest couples in Australia. She visits their wildlife research centre, where they are working to save the koala, which is now on the brink of extinction. Miriam meets a koala that is miraculously free of deadly disease, as is her young joey. This could be great news for the future of this iconic Australian species.

The next morning, Miriam joins a group of school strikers protesting climate change outside parliament house. She meets 15-year-old Gina, who asks Miriam to define the term Lucky Country – before offering her own unique perspective that Australia is 'unlucky' because 'as a country, we find change difficult'.

Miriam's final stop is Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. Miriam meets an Aussie family and joins their kids as they take part in Nippers, the regular club surf education program for young Australians. The inclusive nature of the beach and the embrace of the ocean for Australians of all ages is, for Miriam, a true signifier of the Lucky Country.

After eight weeks and 10,000 kilometres, Miriam is finally back home in Robertson. Australia, she muses, has been a lucky country indeed for her. Australia, she says, will always be a little bigger and beyond her imagination. But have her experiences left her feeling that she is now more Australian? Well, yes - almost!

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