A soon-to-be retiree has emerged as the sole division one Powerball winner nationwide, taking home $12 million.
The man, from the small Geelong town of Lara, held the only division one winning entry in Australia in the Powerball draw on Thursday.
He is set to pocket a whopping $12 million when the dust settles.
Having seldom watched the lottery be drawn live on TV before, he was absolutely astonished to see all of his numbers pop up one by one on Thursday night.
Remaining unnamed, the winner said while he still went to work on Friday, his days on the job were numbered.
“It honestly hasn’t sunk in, it’s a lot of money to process,” he said.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve watched a lottery draw on TV, but for some odd reason, I decided to watch it last night.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when my numbers started to come up.”
Having used the same numbers repeatedly for some time, the Lara winner admitted he had recently changed things up.
“I have my numbers memorised off by heart, and I had recently added in a new number because of someone’s birthday.
“I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m going to keep it on the down low and process it all.”
In a wholesome twist, the winner said he can now start making plans to retire.
“This will be a huge help towards the future. I’ve already started to wind down my hours and this will really help me transition into retirement.”
His winning PowerHit entry was bought at Lara Lotto Cards and Gifts, with the store’s owner, Meena Misra, ecstatic to have sold a division one winning entry.
“We’re so happy and it’s great knowing our team sold a division one winning entry worth a life-changing $12 million” she said.
“The last time we sold a ticket that won a major lottery prize was in March this year when our group syndicate took out $2.5 million in a TattsLotto Superdraw.
“Congratulations to the winning man and we wish him all the best with his prize. We hope his prize allows him to spread joy and do something nice.”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1468 on Thursday were 8, 9, 21, 6, 12, 13 and 30, and the Powerball number was 4.
So far in 2024, there have been three division one winning entries in the Geelong and Southwest region, collectively winning over $17.42 million in prize money.
In 2023, 20 winners across Australia shared more than $552.15 million in Powerball division one prize money including a father from Bankstown who won a $100 million jackpot, making his victory the second-largest in Australian lottery history.