BBC - Miriam Margolyes Almost Australian Series 1 (2020) Part 1 The Australian Dream

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 1 The Australian Dream

As a child, the Australia that won Miriam's heart was a sunny optimistic place where there was opportunity for everyone to work hard, succeed and live. But now Miriam wants to know if there really is such a thing as the Australian Dream today – and if so, what does it mean?

Starting in Bondi, Miriam reflects that it was much easier to climb the property ladder here 40 years ago. She meets real estate agent Monika Tu, who takes her to see one of the grand homes she's selling and reveals the prosperous migrant market.

However, heading west, Miriam discovers fellow Australians who believe in an Australian Dream that's built on freedom without a mortgage. But Miriam's disturbed to discover that there is a growing number of women in Australia who can't afford a home in retirement – and who now make up the fastest growing number of homeless in the country.

With most of eastern Australia in the grip of the worst drought since Federation, Miriam heads to the country town of Trundle to see the reality for herself. Here she meets fourth-generation farmers who have been forced to shoot some of their starving animals. Miriam gains a searing understanding of what it takes to hold onto the Australian Dream in the face of unrelenting adversity.

In Melbourne, Miriam meets Lidia Thorpe, a leading Indigenous activist. Lidia's perspectives leave Miriam with pressing questions about the value of the Australian Dream. However, Miriam rediscovers the dream in the rural Victorian town of Nhill. Here she meets Tha-Blay Sher, who came to Australia from Burma with her family. Miriam learns that Tha-Blay is one of many Karen refugees who now work and live in Nhill after being stateless in their country of origin. Here, as Miriam discovers, is 'the Australian Dream in action'.

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