Two lucky Australian families woke up as multi-millionaires after winning the record $200 million Powerball jackpot.
The first ticket was bought by a delighted couple from Singleton, just an hour inland from Newcastle in NSW, while the second ticket belongs to an unidentified Queenslander.
The woman from Singleton, still in disbelief, was overwhelmed after receiving the life-changing phone call from the lottery office.
“It’s a lot of money. A lot of money to fathom,” she told officials after Thursday night’s draw.
“I just had a look a moment ago and I instantly went, ‘Oh my God’.
She continued, “I mean you joke about winning but never expect it to happen to you. Well, I absolutely won’t be working anymore. I mean, honestly, do I really need to?”
She added that her partner was in shock, but “he loves his job, so I don’t know if he’ll be retiring”.
The couple envisions an endless array of possibilities with their windfall, including a well-deserved overseas holiday.
“Our options are endless. It’s going to help our children immensely. Wow. I’m just taking it all in. Thank you so much,” she said.
Meanwhile, the lucky winner from Queensland remains a mystery, as their unregistered ticket prevents officials from making contact.
The winning numbers for draw 1446 on February 1 were 12, 33, 23, 35, 1, 26, and 32, with the Powerball number being 10.
Alongside the grand winners, 22 participants secured division two prizes, each claiming just over $177,000.
This monumental jackpot marks the largest in Australian history, surpassing the $160 million shared among three winners in 2022.
Despite the astronomical odds of winning Powerball’s division one prize (more than 134 million to one), the allure of the record jackpot drew in a surge of ticket purchases, with hundreds bought every minute.
