Young couple win Thursday night Powerball’s $20 million jackpot plus division two windfall

One lucky couple in their 30s have won a staggering $20 million after claiming the only division one winning entry. Then they got even luckier.

A couple in their 30s not only managed to win a staggering $20 million in Thursday’s Powerball draw, they also scored a whopping division two return.

The couple, based in Belconnen in the ACT, initially ignored calls after the draw on Thursday night, unaware they held the only division one winning entry.

The full division one prize amount is $20,507,103.16

But in a golden twist, in addition to winning the division one jackpot, the couple’s PowerHit entry also scored division two 19 times.

Their winnings amount to a total of $20,852,900.31.

The lucky numbers were 17, 25, 12, 5, 4, 28, 14 and the Powerball was 10.

Powerball jackpotted after no-one picked the right numbers for the past two consecutive weeks.

And before that, exactly three weeks ago, a Melbourne cleaner literally cleaned up – taking home an $80 million prize all by himself.

“Oh my god!” tonight’s winning man told an official from The Lott, “while his wife screamed in the background”.

“I saw I had two missed calls, and I thought, ‘who’s calling me at this time?’,” the main said. “I thought, ‘I’m not answering this. They’re probably ringing with bad news’. I’m glad I answered now!”

“I don’t buy lottery tickets that often, but lately we’ve been like, ‘let’s just do it. Who knows?’.

“This is just going to mean a lot for the whole family.

“I want to help my parents and siblings. I want to buy a house for our young family. It’s going to make a world of difference.”

So far this year, there have been 10 Powerball division one winning entries that have collectively pocketed more than $379 million in prize money.

The last time a $20 million Powerball jackpot was won, it was shared between a Queensland tradie and a player from NSW.

A Brisbane tradesman aged in his 30s nabbed the division prize back in January this year.

Last time this amount of prize money was on offer, it was split evenly between two different entrants.

“I went to bed early last night because I’d had a busy day, but I woke up at 2am and just started checking my emails,” the Brisbane winner told The Lott.

“I saw a few emails there, including one about Powerball, so I went on The Lott app.

“I only play Powerball every now and then – when the prize gets big enough.

“At first I thought, ‘Cool, I’ve won $10,000’, but then I realised I’d actually won a lot more – I’d won the top prize. Wow.

“I couldn’t sleep after that.”

Despite the $10 million windfall – which is 111 times more than Australia’s average yearly wage of $90,000 – the bloke still turned up to work the next day.

What would you spend the money on if you won?

“So, I’ve been up since 2am and now I’m at work,” he told the lottery official.

“I’m self-employed, so I’ve still got to work, and I’ll keep working even after this.

“I’ve always said if I won the lottery, I’d keep working. I’d get bored otherwise, but this just takes the worries away.

“I will buy myself a house and buy my mum a house too.

“I’m sure I’ll think of lots of other things, but I can’t think straight at the moment. It still feels like a dream.”

So far this year, six of the 10 Powerball division one winning entries are from NSW, three in Queensland and one in Victoria.