The Wairoa winner of a $10.3 million Lotto prize has described their whānau joy after discovering the big win. 

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was watching the live draw on TV and marking their numbers down on their ticket when they realised they won. 

“All of a sudden, I had four matching numbers and then five. I yelled, ‘I’ve got five numbers!’ I was so happy.” 

“But then I realised I had more numbers, and when I circled the Powerball, I stood up in shock,” the winner said. 

The whānau checked the ticket three times before they began to “jump around and cry.” 

“I couldn’t sit still and was in a stupor for the rest of the evening,” the winner said. 

After claiming their prize on Monday the winner said things have calmed down and they’ve finally had some sleep after a few restless nights. 

They plan to invest their winnings and help their whānau, saying they are “thankful for this prize and looking forward to the future.” (edited) 

“This year has brought us closer together,” the winner said. 

The ticket, sold atWairoa’s New World supermarket, one of two Lotto agencies in Wairoa, produced the only winning Powerball first division win in the draw and was easily the biggest Lotto prize for a ticket sold in Wairoa in the draw’s 36-year history. 

The previous largest in Wairoa was a $650,000 Lotto first division prize in December 2001, a Lotto NZ spokesperson said. A Lucky Strike ticket worth $600,000 was sold at Mobil Wairoa in December, 2021. 

It was at least the 7th ticket sold in Hawke’s Bay to have been worth more than $10 million, and is thought to have been the first since $11 million went to a ticket sold in Hastings in March 2019. 

With speculation among townspeople as to whether the windfall had gone local or to a passer-through, Lotto NZ was unable to say whether the latest winner was from the Wairoa District, or whether the winning numbers were a punter’s choice or a “Lucky Dip” selection. 

The winning Lotto numbers were: 1, 5, 6, 20, 36, and 39 and the Powerball number 8.