A local from Queensland won tickets to Oprah's show in Australia. Donna McGuire, 35 and mother of three, was one of the lucky few who won tickets to see Oprah as she tours Australia later this year.

"Never in a million years did I ever expect to see Oprah in the flesh," Donna told Queenland Times.

"It's all a bit surreal still and I've only just started to realise the magnitude of what this is. She's such an iconic woman - so inspirational - I don't know what it is but people seem to listen to her. She gets presidents elected."

Donna will be taking her sister Peta Schloss to the Oprah show taping on December 14. Oprah Winfrey's Australia visit has sparked a ticket frenzy among Australians, as 3000 lucky people shall be part of her audience in a two-episode show at the Sydney Opera House.

The reservation window for the release of Orprah's Australia shows taping tickets has now been closed. However, Oprah.com said that if tickets are available, they would annouced it via e-mail.

Oprah's trip to Australia is part of the country's tourism promotion with funding from the federal and NSW government. The visit will be conducted in partnership with Qantas and is partly financed by Tourism Australia ($1.5 million) from its current marketing budget. The NSW government will shoulder between $1 million and $2 million.