$8.2m winner keeps everybody guessing

By DANIEL JACKSON

Someone has an $8.2 million secret burning a hole in his or her pocket.

The richest lottery prize to be won in this country - Lotto Powerball division one - went on Saturday to a ticket bought at a suburban service station in Whangarei.

Shell Kensington lessee Archie Wright had no idea last night who his lucky customer might be. The ticket was one of 1800 sold by the service station, on State Highway 1 on the northern side of Whangarei, during the past week.

"A lot of customers are creatures of habit and only buy their tickets here, but we also get a lot of people just passing through," he said.

The winning ticket, with the numbers 1, 4, 10, 11, 18, 24 and powerball 3, had to beat odds of 30 million to one.

Speculation was rife in the neighbourhood of the lucky Lotto outlet about whether the winner lived locally.

Across the road at Kensington Woolworths, supervisor Lianna Tohu said everybody was talking about the win.

"But all I know is that it wasn't me."

Down the road at Kensington Liquorland, Eric Brumby thought it significant that no one had yet bought the store's top bottle of champagne at $295.

"If they were going to buy a bottle to celebrate, I'm pretty sure that's the one they would be going for."

Lotteries Commission marketing manager Philip Poole said the total prize - the Lotto first-division prize of $163,044, plus the Powerball jackpot of $8,073,917 - was easily twice the biggest single amount handed out by the commission.

The winner can claim the prize by filling out a form at any Lotto outlet or going straight to the commission's office in Wellington.

"It's theirs to do with what they want, but what we would stress to the winner is that they seek professional advice," said Mr Poole.

The previous biggest prizes were three $4 million Lotto first-division wins in the early 1990s.

One of those winners, Rob Buchanan, of Whangape in the Far North, advised Saturday's winner to keep a low profile.

Mr Buchanan was a solo father living in the south Hokianga when he won his multimillion-dollar prize in 1993.

He bought a large coastal property and used some of his winnings to pay off mortgages for his family and support conservation initiatives in the North.

But while the win brought financial security for him and his family, it also brought its share of problems, including attention from people looking to make a fast buck.

"I would strongly advise against publicity, but it's hard to avoid," Mr Buchanan said.

"My advice to a winner would be to immediately put the money into a bank and to maybe keep a portion out for a year which they can live on while they decide what to do."