Oprah Winfrey visit to Australia, WA Tourism Minister not told
Not everybody is happy with Oprah Winfrey's visit to Australia. In a recent development, West Australian Tourism Minister Liz Constable express disgust that her department was not told about Winfrey's Australian detour from Chicago.
The Tourism West Australia found out about the Oprah's visit some hours before it was announced to the public on Tuesday. Aside from WA, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland government are also partners in the deal. Dr. Constable went to Parliament to complain with the way Tourism Australia dealt with her department.
The West Australian Tourism Minister said: "I have spoken to the federal minister Martin Ferguson about this and expressed my disgust with the way Tourism Australia has handled this situation."
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett echoed the sentiment of Dr. Constable, saying that he was disappointed.
"I am a little bit disappointed if the Australian Tourism Commission informed some states and not other states," Mr. Barnett said. "It is a national body to deal equally with all states."
Oprah's trip to Down Under is part of Australia's tourism promotion and it cost more than $3 million dollars from the federal and NSW government.
The Hollywood's top host's trip to Australia is in partnership with Qantas and will be partly financed by Tourism Australia's $1.5 million from its current financial year marketing budget. NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said the state government would shoulder between $1 million and $2 million.
Around 3000 of Winfrey's fans from Australia will be invited to sit in the audience at Sydney Opera House. The tickets will only be available by a lottery through an online registration at Oprah's website oprah.com and ten.com.au opening in October. The show will be aired in Australia in January 2011.