A Canberra woman who has never won anything before has just become one of the luckiest people in Australia.
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Sorry to disappoint any Canberrans who might have thought they were about to become multi-millionaires, but the winner of a mammoth $35 million Powerball jackpot has been found.
After an anxious day of Canberrans frantically checking their lottery tickets, a woman aged in her 40s from south Canberra has claimed the prize.
For almost a day, the woman was unaware she held the magic numbers to take home Thursday night's jackpot.
The woman was left speechless after discovering she had won the prize with a 50-game QuickPick that she purchased from Thistle Kiosk Lotto in Woden.
"I didn't know when I walked in today to check my Powerball ticket that it was worth $35 million," she said.
"I've never won anything before. I still can't believe this is happening."
With her new-found fortune, the woman's employer shouldn't be surprised if she calls in sick on Monday.
"I might tell work I'm not coming in for a year – they can cope without me. I'll take some time to travel and holiday in Europe," she said.
The woman very nearly didn't buy her lottery ticket and she can thank her brother for her good fortune.
"I don't usually purchase an entry every week but my brother told me that the Powerball jackpot had gone off and had reached $35 million so I should buy a ticket," she said.
"My brother is the regular player in the family – he religiously buys his weekly entry so he'll be really jealous but of course I'll give him some money as a big thank you.
"I'll absolutely be sharing with family – I'll pay off my mortgage but I can also pay of my mum's mortgage and all the rest."
Thistle Kiosk Lotto owner Graham Barker was delighted to have sold the winning ticket, saying he was almost as excited as the woman when she realised she had won.
"I'm retiring after decades as an outlet owner so I feel like I'm going out with a bang," he said.
He said Thistle Kiosk Lotto could just be ACT's luckiest outlet, with the win their third division one winning jackpot ticket sold in recent years.
The winning numbers in Powerball's $35 million draw 1055 on Thursday were 16, 3, 38, 8, 17 and 24. The Powerball number was 5.
More than 602,000 prizes were won across Australia in division two to eight, sharing a total prize pool of more than $13.4 million.
