Miriam Margolyes reveals favourite Australian city after being slammed over controversial comments

Back in May, Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes was slammed by defensive Aussies after making controversial comments about her adopted country in the ABC documentary series Almost Australian. 

But now the 79-year-old actress, who holds dual citizenship with her native UK and Australia, has revealed her favourite city from the land down under.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper in July that she’s a big fan of South Australia, in particular its capital, Adelaide.

‘I’m fond of Adelaide. It’s an elegant, quiet city,’ she said of the peaceful SA capital, which has a population of more than 1.3 million people.

She added that Goolwa, a coastal town on the Murray River, was one of her favourite regional destinations.

‘I warm to there being no people. Goolwa in South Australia is glorious,’ she said.

Picture perfect: The 79-year-old actress, who holds dual citizenship with her native UK and Australia, said she was ‘fond of Adelaide [because] it’s an elegant, quiet city’

Idyllic: She added that Goolwa (pictured), a coastal town on the Murray River, was one of her favourite regional destinations

In May, Aussies slammed the British-born actress for comments she made about her adopted country in the docuseries Almost Australian.

She labelled the nation brutal and greedy, after seeing the growing number of developments in Queensland’s tourist hotspot Surfers Paradise.

Many Australians angrily suggested on social media that Miriam could always go back to the UK if she preferred it there.

‘Put your claws back in Miriam and be thankful for the surroundings of where you are living. If you are so incensed with Aussies, simply pack your bags and head back to England,’ one critic wrote.

Causing a stir: In May, Aussies slammed the Harry Potter star for comments she made about her adopted country in the ABC docuseries Almost Australian

‘One simple solution: f**k off out of Australia. This country has a lot to offer. Get rid of you and that means some other deserving human might take your place. I sincerely hope you are pressured to leave,’ another added.  

However, others agreed with Miriam’s views on overdevelopment.

‘Good on her… I’m ashamed of how Aussies act too… stop selling Australia offshore,’ one supporter wrote on Facebook. 

Miriam, who became a naturalised citizen seven years ago, travelled from coast to coast for her series Almost Australian, but the process left her feeling disenchanted with her adopted home country.

Familiar face: Miriam, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film, became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2013

She made headlines at the time for saying she was horrified by the ‘brutality’ and ‘greed’ of modern Australia, and later declared in an interview with The New Daily that she wouldn’t be making any apologies for her remarks.

She said her longtime partner, Heather Sutherland, a retired Australian professor of Indonesian studies, had warned her that ‘Australians do not like criticism’. 

‘And they don’t, so I knew that I was doing something quite risky by, you know, having an opinion,’ she said. ‘Because I think Australians are a bit tired of Brits mouthing off about Australia, and I don’t blame them.’

‘It’s harsher than it was’: She also sparked outrage by saying Australia was ‘harsher’ than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s

But despite this, she decided to throw caution to the wind and say what she really thought about Australia – regardless of the consequences.

‘I hope people will not be too annoyed about the things I have to say, but in the end, to be honest, f**k ’em if they are. That’s tough. I’m telling it like I see it,’ she said. 

Miriam, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, also sparked outrage by saying Australia was ‘harsher’ than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s.

‘We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don’t. It’s quite complicated. It’s layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it’s harsher than it was. Maybe that’s true in the world,’ she told TV Tonight.

‘There’s a harshness about it, which I didn’t expect.’ 

Opinion: Miriam said, ‘We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don’t. It’s quite complicated. It’s layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it’s harsher than it was. Maybe that’s true in the world’ 

She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers.

‘There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don’t like,’ she said.

‘You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it’s disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don’t go there. It’s not my world and I don’t want to go there.’

‘It’s disgusting’: She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise (pictured), a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers