Oprah's Trip to Cost Aussie Taxpayers $2.8M

Oprah's bringing her audience to Australia—and the Aussie taxpayers will be footing a chokable chunk of the bill. The Australian government is contributing some $2.8 million toward the cost of bringing the Oprah Winfrey Show to the country later this year. Officials say the price is a bargain considering the amount of publicity for Australian tourism that Oprah's trip will generate, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Former tourism minister John Brown urged the public not to be "cynical about the cost" of the Oprah trip. "We spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 30 years without much effect," he confessed. "The publicity that Oprah will bring to Australia around the world is something you couldn't buy." New South Wales' leader says she is delighted that the show is coming to Sydney and hailed the efforts of everybody who helped keep "Project O" confidential.