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Robyn Edie / Stuff
A winning lottery ticket brings a positive start to the new year for Te Anau who battled flooding and a lack of international tourists in 2020. [file photo]
A winning First Division Powerball ticket purchased at the Te Anau Fresh Choice supermarket is bringing positive news to the municipality for the new year.
The First Division prize was worth $ 2.8 million in the first drawing of the year and was split between two winners, with another winning ticket purchased on Twizel.
The prize was comprised of $ 2.5 million from Powerball First Division and $ 333,333 from Lotto First Division.
LOT / SUPPLIED
Te Anau is the last place to sell a winning lottery ticket.
Te Anau Fresh Choice manager Natalie Gray said it was “pretty cool” that the ticket was purchased at Te Anau, but could have been purchased anywhere.
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There were some people talking about who had bought the ticket, however it could have been anyone, and no one was sure if they were local or visiting the area, he said.
Southland District Deputy Mayor and Te Anau resident Ebel Kremer said hopefully it spelled a positive start to 2021 after a difficult previous year for the city.
Te Anau had been struggling since the February floods last year and was then hit by a lack of international visitors due to Covid-19, so hopefully everything will be left behind in 2020, Kremer said.
Certainly there would be a bit of talk in the city if it were someone local or a visitor, as the city had been busy since the start of the Christmas and New Year holidays, he said.
Barry harcourt
Te Anau Fresh Choice Supermarket where a winning First Division lottery ticket was purchased. [file photo]
Fiordland Community Board Chair Sarah Greaney said time will tell if the ticket was purchased by a resident, but it was positive news for the city either way.
The city had been quite busy over the Christmas / New Years holidays, so they were probably from out of town, he said.
The duo are the first Powerball winners in 2021. Their victories come a week after a player from Oamaru made $ 18.25 million with Powerball First Division.
It was the second-largest lottery jackpot for 2020, behind two Auckland ticket buyers who handed out a $ 25.1 million jackpot to each bank in late February.
Strike Four was renewed Saturday and will be $ 300,000 on Wednesday.
New Zealanders spent $ 1.38 billion on Lotto in the year through June, of which $ 313 million went to the Lottery Grant Board.
