Oprah Winfrey plans Oz trip for show swansong

While British taxpayers have been taken aback by the public expense of this week's visit by Pope Benedict, Australian taxpayers are equally surprised to find themselves meeting many of the costs of an upcoming visit by the American queen of chat, Oprah Winfrey.

She is travelling Down Under to film a series of Oprah shows from various locations including the Sydney Opera House – which, needless to say, will be renamed the 'Oprah House' for the occasion – and is taking a 300-strong Chicago audience with her. Hollywood actor John Travolta, who is a licensed pilot and a 'goodwill ambassador-at-large' for Qantas, will fly them to Australia.
 
The Oprah circus will visit the beaches and vineyards near Sydney and get a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.

Although the project has been a year in the planning, Winfrey only announced the news on Monday, during the first episode of her 25th and final series for ABC before she quits to launch her own network in 2011.

"I started to think about where would I most want to go," Winfrey said. "Maybe I should take all of you with me to the other side of the world. We're going to Australia!" she said.
 
According to the Sydney Horning Herald, various costs of the jaunt will be met by federal and local government, to the tune of AUS$3million (£1.8m), despite Winfrey being one of the world's richest women.

But the country's tourism minister Martin Ferguson insisted the bill was money well spent. "Oprah is a household name and her star power has the potential to lift Australia's profile as a premier tourist destination," Ferguson said. ·