Million-dollar-plus price tag for Oprah in Australia

Oprah Winfrey’s offer to take her staff and 300 audience members Down Under will cost Tourism Australia about $1.5 million, according to The Age in Melbourne.

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, will cover the group’s airfare, the report said.

“There’ll be lots of other partners getting involved to help out too,” said Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia.

Winfrey announced Monday during the 25th and final season opener of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that she plans to tape at least two episodes of her program in Australia.

”We’re not paying her to come and do it. We’re simply trying to make sure it doesn’t cost them any more to film the programmes here than it would to film them in America,” McEvoy said