richie300k.jpgWe knew Nicole Richie was off to Australia for some promotional duties, but we were flabbergasted when we learned that the starlet returned to the states with an extra $200,000 in the bank, $30,000 worth of goodies and an all expenses paid trip!

Nicole, daughter Harlow, the nanny and her publicist were flown first-class (the total ended up being a whopping $72,000), and the quartet stayed in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel on George St. (roughly $36,000) and get this -- she even had a daily allowance. All this was for the re-opening of the MidCity shopping center outside of Sydney, where Nicole had to cut a ribbon, attend cocktail parties and do several interviews.

Sounds sooo exhausting! MidCity project manager Sam Spoakes told news.au.com, "The whole thing has been fantastic and we've got far more in PR value than we expected." Who knew Nicole was such a cash cow?