Lotto has made one New Zealander an instant millionaire tonight.
Tonight’s draw was offering a $5 million Powerball jackpot, plus a further $1m via first division.
While Powerball was not struck, one lucky winner has secured the first division pot.
The numbers are 28, 31, 2, 16, 36 and 20. The Bonus Ball is 11 and the Powerball 6.
The winning ticket was purchased via MyLotto by an Auckland player.
Powerball will jackpot to $6m for Wednesday’s draw.
Tonight’s draw comes just a week after a couple ended 2024 as the country’s latest big-time Lotto winners.
A Dunedin couple said they were in disbelief after winning $4.3m in Saturday’s Lotto draw.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was gifted a ticket by a family member.
She and her husband wrote the winning numbers at the top of the ticket and then checked to see how they had fared.
“She said, ‘I think we’ve got three numbers, have a look’,” said the man.
“I said to her, ‘we haven’t got three numbers, we’ve got six – we’ve won Lotto, and we’ve got Powerball too’.”
Following a sleepless night, the pair said they were still in “fairyland” as they tried to make sense of their new financial situation.
“It’s just mind-boggling,” the woman said.
They plan to put most of the money into a savings account while they decide what to do with it.
However, they want to treat their children and grandchildren straight away.
They also have a treat in mind for themselves.
“We’re going to look at replacing our car. We probably won’t buy a new one, but it will be an upgrade,” the woman said.
The win was made up of $4m from Powerball first division and $333,333 from Lotto first division.
The couple claimed the prize on Monday at the store where the ticket had been purchased – Whitcoulls George St in Dunedin.
Saturday night’s other big prize also went to a player in the south of the country.
The special $1m prize was part of Lotto NZ’s “biggest Christmas ever” promotion. It was won by a player who purchased his ticket at Plaza Supervalue in Invercargill.
Another 100 prizes of $50,000 were won by players from throughout New Zealand as part of the promotion.
Jones said it was 'disgraceful’ non-Māori couldn’t speak at the tangi.