A grandmother from Central Queensland was expecting another solar panel sales pitch when she picked up the phone on Thursday night. Instead, she was told her life had changed forever.
The elderly Rockhampton couple held one of two division one winning entries nationally in Thursday’s $100 million Powerball jackpot, each pocketing $50 million. The other was in held in Victoria.
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Lott officials called the grandmother immediately following the draw to deliver the life-changing news, to which she responded: “You’re joking”.
“I’m in disbelief. I can’t believe it. This doesn’t happen to us,” she said.
“I expected you to ask if we have solar panels, not to tell us we’ve just won $50 million.
“We’re multi-millionaires. I can’t believe I’m saying that. It’s going to take a while to wrap my head around it.
“I’ve been playing for a long time now – since the game first started. I had always used the same numbers, but this ticket was just a QuickPick. I’m in a total state of shock.
“We’ve been pretty happy in life, but this is the icing on the cake.”
The couple – who purchased their 8-game QuickPick from Card & Paper Shop in North Rockhampton – said they would share the multi-million-dollar prize with family.
“It helps the family that’s for sure. ‘Family first’ is what we always say,” she said.
“We’ll have lots more time together now too. I don’t think they’re going to believe us when we tell them.
“There’s going to be a few more prezzies under the tree on Christmas day.”
Card & Paper Shop owner Janet Dingley said it was “wonderful to know we’ve played a role in completely changing someone’s life” – revealing, it’s the store’s tenth division one win.
Check your tickets
The owner of the second division one winning entry remains a mystery – and may have yet to discover they’re now a multi-millionaire.
The player from Melbourne’s City of Darebin held an unregistered ticket, which means The Lott officials must wait for them to check their ticket and come forward to start the prize claim process.
The Lott spokesperson Anna Hobdell encouraged “all City of Darebin residents and visitors to check their entries, because you may just discover you’ve won an exhilarating prize set to change the course of your future”.
“If you discover you’re the newly minted multi-millionaire we’re searching for, call 131 868 to begin the exciting prize claim process,” she said.
“This is an important reminder to all players to always register their tickets to an online account or players card with The Lott Members Club. If the mystery player had registered their entry, we would have been able to reach out to them this evening.”
The Lott will release the outlet where the winning entry was purchased at 9am AEST on Saturday, unless the winner comes forward.
Draw 1489 was the sixth-largest jackpot in Australian lottery history and a sole division one winner would have joined just six others in our gaming history to have watched nine figures be deposited into their account.
Thousands of tickets were expected to be sold every minute as the draw neared, with up to half of all Australian adults set to try their luck at becoming a multimillionaire just weeks before Christmas.
In addition to the two division one winning entries, there were 11 division two winners who each took home $158,200.15.
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1489 were 1, 4, 9, 10, 22, 26 and 31. The Powerball is 14.
If you’re concerned about your gambling or the gambling of a friend or family member, log on to Gambling Help Online or make contact via phone at 1800 858 858. You can access online counselling as well as services in your state or territory and support for family and friends.