A strange feeling had a Canberra dad answer the call of a lifetime on the first ring overnight (30 June).
It was lottery officials, letting him know he was the only division one winning entry in last night’s Powerball: a prize of $60 million.
His entry also scored division two 19 times, bolstering his total prize to $60,701,558.85.
When he answered the call, he exclaimed “are you serious?!”
“I’m laughing, I’m lost for words, I’m pacing around,” he said.
“I’m going to have a heart attack.
“You know what? I had a feeling it was The Lott calling me! I thought, ‘They’re going to call me at 8:30 pm tonight’. Wow! Wow! Wow!”
He joked his family might take some convincing of his good fortune, so asked lottery officials to be on standby should he need them to confirm the windfall.
“I’ve been dreaming of this day forever,” he said.
“I play the same numbers all the time. They were inspired by my family.”
The happy winner declared he would retire immediately to spend more time with his young family.
“They’re going to be looked after. I can’t believe it. Oh my god!” he said.
“It’s been a tough year, this is life-changing. I’m going to pay off some bills and enjoy living debt-free. I’m going to take a long-overdue holiday with my family.
“I can’t believe it. I’m shaking!”
The winning numbers in the Powerball draw on Thursday 30 June were 22, 6, 1, 16, 17, 29 and 11. The Powerball number was 2.
In 2021, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $550.1 million in prize money. Seven winners were in New South Wales, four in Queensland, two in Victoria and one in Western Australia.