Aussies spend $3 million to give Oprah audience a trip!

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68C42V20100914

Oprah Winfrey might have surprised her talk show audience Monday by giving them all a free, eight-day trip to Australia but the trip also surprised Australians -- with a A$3 million (US$2.8 million) bill.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal and state New South Wales governments would spend more than $3 million helping to bring "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to Australia as a way to boost tourism.

He said it was money well spent as it would put Australia in the spotlight with the popular TV show watched by 40 million Americans and screened in 145 countries.

"Oprah is a household name and her star power has the potential to lift Australia's profile as a premier tourist destination," Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday.

Former federal tourism minister John Brown asked the media not to be "cynical about the cost" at a time when the number of Australian leaving for overseas holidays outstrips the number of tourists coming to Australia for vacations.

See the crowds meltdown here:

phpBB [video]

What a dick move by Oprah to the Australian taxpayers.

I was expecting a man in a kangaroo suit to come out from backstage. Sadly, disappointed.

The person running the country is a middle aged white woman. You do the math.

I'm sure the NSW Government has better uses for the $AU31million they are gifting to Oprah...

The person running the country is a middle aged white woman. You do the math.

So's the NSW premier, so it definitely adds up.

I'm sure the NSW Government has better uses for the $AU31million they are gifting to Oprah...

I'll take it if they can't think of anything. That's just how much I love my country.

I don't think it's 31 million, pretty sure it's just 3.

Yes, it's just the 3.

The person running the country is a middle aged white woman. You do the math.

hahahahaha
/thread