As an American, all I knew about Australia when I arrived was Steve Irwin. Here’s what I loved and hated about a country where I was homeless, jailed twice and attacked by spiders

A US woman who came to Australia to escape ‘oppressive’ America and ended up getting locked up in two prisons and a detention centre, as well as homeless in Bondi, has revealed what she loved and hated about her time Down Under. 

Liliana Goodson has detailed a surprising list of what she regards as the good and the bad about this country, including her favourite burger joint, the suburbs she liked and what she saw as bureaucratic failings.

Goodson was infamously locked up when a 24 carat gold-plated .45 Colt handgun was found in her luggage at Sydney Airport. She now lays part of the blame for that on others – such as American Airlines – for failing to detect the weapon before arrival.

Chief among Goodson’s list of complaints is that Bondi police ‘wouldn’t let me wear my green wig’ upon arrival, and that authorities seized her passport upon her arrest at the airport, leaving her without ID when she was granted bail to appear in court. 

She said this meant she couldn’t get ‘a bank account, find accommodation, ended up homeless after not getting work, and was assaulted by two different people’ and couldn’t even get into a hostel due to her lack of ‘physical ID’.

‘I wasn’t able to verify my working rights online through Seek nor get a working SIM card, as my passport details ended up getting flagged, which makes me wonder: why take my passport anyway if you’re going to flag it.’ 

She also incorrectly claimed she was ‘doxxed’ – or publicly identified – by the Australian Federal Police.

However, Goodson has positive memories of parts of Sydney including the beach suburb of Dee Why (‘a godsend’), Martin Place (‘a glimmer moment’), the Opera House and Milsons Point (‘chill’).

Wollongong and Fairy Meadow reminded her of home in Alabama, the Royal Botanic Garden was ‘my second home’ and Engadine, south of the city, was a ‘lovely place to explore… and also have very wonderful + rejuvenating naps.’

But Goodson’s stay was overshadowed by the reason she was trapped here for two years, some of it in Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre or Villawood Detention Centre.

She joked that she became derisively known ‘as Australia’s clown with the golden gun – (my) .45 Colt 1911 24k gold plated gun with Mother of Pearl inlay’.

It all began on April 23, 2023 when Goodson – a heavily tattooed graphic designer who identifies as ‘female non-binary’ – touched down in Sydney on a Sunday morning.

Goodson had dressed for the 15-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney in a bright yellow jumpsuit, platform pumps and blue hair to complement her extreme piercings, multiple face tattoos and what she described as ‘hella’ (extreme) makeup and eyelashes.

Shortly after touching down, a scan of Goodson’s luggage by Border Force agents detected the gold-plated Colt pistol.

Goodson would later claim she had a job lined up in Australia and planned to live in the same trendy suburb where she ended up being homeless, although she now admits on Instagram she was ‘a sad addict trying to escape America’.

The discovery of the $2,000 weapon inside the then 28-year-old’s luggage scuppered Goodson’s plans, although she also now claims that instead of smuggling the weapon, ‘honestly I forgot’ it was there.

Goodson was taken to Surry Hills Police Station and charged with intentionally importing a prohibited item without approval, and bailed to appear at Downing Centre Local Court the following Monday. 

She was ordered to stay at a boutique Bondi guest house, The Baxley, but it appears that Goodson’s funds quickly dwindled in Sydney after she was required to pay $10,000 security or risk immediate incarceration.

She was also required to report to Kings Cross police station daily and surrender her passport, and had her reporting location changed to Bondi in July. 

It is not certain when she began living on the streets, but in July that year, Daily Mail spotted and photographed Goodson in Bondi Woolworths, weighed down with a massive backpack.

In her recent postings on Instagram, Goodson says ‘I pawned most of my ring collection in Australia so I could buy food + money for public transport’ and that one semi-precious ring ‘was stolen when I was homeless in Oz Land, along with what left I had of mom’s jewelry. Stolen for drug money by a gronk I unfortch knew’.

Goodson descended into homelessness, and described ‘rough sleeping (for me) definitely felt like punishment.’

‘I enjoyed camping out and for a while. I would’ve rather slept in the streets than couch surfed because not all help is actual good help.

‘My mental health plummeted being around a lot of depressing and sometimes volatile energy.’ 

Goodson remained on bail and during 2024, felt both good and bad about Australia, in March that year visiting Luna Park and Milsons Point, of which she said, ‘hello I found my new home.’

She described with wonder the fact that  ‘Australia has some BIG spiders. Walked into a spider web. I think a Huntsman? Big as my palm. 

‘Hope they’re doing okay and that I haven’t scared them off with the morning routine. Both hauntingly beautiful and absolutely terrifying to be near.’

She celebrated ‘getting out of my comfort zone. Grateful for every kind, generous, genuine soul I’ve met and still contact.’ 

She was a regular for a time while living in the Sydney at Five Guys Burger & Fries in Martin Place, because ‘their burgers + fries are peak. Still HEAVY but … had soggy fries’.

When ‘first arriving on the homeless/street scene’ Goodson said ‘someone joked that I arrived in true Aussie fashion … a convict.

‘I lived in Australia for two years, as a local and an immigrant, and left a convict.’

She said she had arrived with little knowledge of the country bar environmentalist Steve Irwin. 

‘He looked so cool … like a personified lion and that was sick to me as a kid. I saw him on Animal Planet and his passion for animals and conservation was inspiring’.

By mid-2024, Goodson had received legal advice about the seriousness of the charges she was facing as her case progressed through court.

In June that year she reported that ‘I had a much needed cry. Feels like I’ve lived 5 different lives since being here. Would rather be here than in the states tho tbh’.

In December last year, Goodson pleaded guilty to illegally importing an unauthorised firearm and illegally importing ammunition.

She was sentenced to a 12-month jail term, of which four months were to be served in full-time custody.

She was released in April 2025 to the Immigration custody and taken to Villawood Detention Centre where she spent several weeks before being deported back to the US.  

Since being back in American Goodson appears to have moved to Miami, Florida where she says she is a musician and producer who ‘creates electronic music’ and that travelling to Australia and elsewhere has ‘alleviated a lot of sadness’.

In fact she claims Australia ‘changed my life forever’ and that she is ‘forever grateful’ to the Australian community.

‘Grateful to have overcome a lot and all the healing that’s happened even if it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. 

‘Grateful for all the support and continued support. Grateful for friends made and continue to make. Grateful for continuous opportunities and all past.’

However, Goodson is still angry about the fact she was ‘allowed’ to enter Australia with a gun which she blames on people other than herself.

She said it was ‘a serious mistake but that doesn’t mean I’m a menace. 

‘I made a dummy mistake in a rush to leave the States because I was feeling increasingly unsafe and seeking asylum outside the US. 

‘Obviously I know there’s an amount of personal responsibility involved with my legal case back in Australia.

‘However the thing that gets me and it’s also something I’ve talked with a lot of other Australians about …. how did nobody at American Airlines catch my gun in my luggage?

‘Like I thought y’all had security, like from the moment I checked my baggage in it got onto the plane and it got like into Sydney International Airport. 

‘Like how did nobody in between all of that scan for, I don’t know, a gun, like contraband or whatever? 

‘There’s a lot of context behind why my entire thing happened. Somebody at American Airlines … like did it not go through a scanner?

‘I thought y’all had X-rays. Was someone just not doing their job, like hey, this luggage got a gun in it? Like, oh, a little suspicious, like we gotta flag this. 

‘American Airlines why didn’t y’all catch onto my gun. Y’all a multi-million if not billion dollar corporation.

‘What if I was an actual menace or like threat to society instead of just a sad addict trying to escape America. My flabbers are still gasted to this day.’ 

Goodson would seem to still have a fascination with weapons, having posted an image of a bejewelled flick knife on her Instagram