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One lucky ticket holder in Oamaru is $ 18.25 million richer after winning the Boxing Day Powerball jackpot. Photo / Archive
Fingers are crossed in a South Island city where the winner of Saturday’s $ 18 million mega Lotto jackpot is a local resident.
Someone is $ 18.25 million richer after buying their ticket at New World Waitaki in Oamaru.
Winnings consist of $ 18 million for Powerball and another $ 250,000, a quarter of the $ 1 million First Division prize that was divided among four players.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said that such a boost to the local economy is “always welcome.”
“It may have been someone who was passing through and stopped in that particular New World. We certainly hope it’s a local.”
“It is very significant and it would be an understatement to say it is life changing,” he said.
He said he hopes the winner can “really enjoy” his winnings, rather than feel burdened by them.
“Inevitably, there will be a lot of people offering them opportunities to spend it.”
“The Waitaki district relies heavily on volunteers and philanthropy and if [that’s] something the winner chooses to do, then there are all kinds of groups and projects that they can help with.
“But first of all, we hope they put it to good use and really enjoy it.”
Other winners of the weekend’s lottery drawing included three more tickets that did not have the correct Powerball number, worth $ 250,000 each, their share of Division One.
They were purchased at Four Square Matarangi in Whitianga, at MyLotto by a player from Tauranga, and at Countdown Church Street in Timaru.
Lotto’s Triple Dip Christmas promotion with more than 300 additional prizes was also raffled off Saturday night, including a $ 1 million cash prize, five Jaguar cars and 300 $ 5,000 cash prizes.
One lucky player from Auckland won the first promotional prize of $ 1 million. The winning coupon was sold at Mountain Road Pricecutter in Auckland.
Kircher wasn’t sure if Oamaru’s high price had already been claimed.
Mystery surrounded a $ 17 million win in the lottery earlier in the year, where Lotto was preparing to deploy a private investigator after it was unable to locate the winner.
The winner finally came forward after three weeks of national intrigue.
At the time, the new millionaire said they deliberately waited several days to claim their money.
“I was in no rush to claim the award, and I needed some time to process things. It was all very surreal.”
