Powerball: Brisbane uni student in his 20s wins $20 million lottery prize, Powerball numbers

A Brisbane university student in his 20s has vowed to ditch the 9-to-5 grind forever after winning a life-changing pile of cash last night.

Retirement has come early for one young Aussie after he took home Thursday night’s $20 million Powerball jackpot.

The man, who is aged in his 20s and wishes to remain anonymous, held the only division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1283, which means he pockets the lot.

The MacGregor man, who is currently studying at university, vowed to ditch the rat race and focus on his loved ones immediately after confirming the good news with officials from The Lott, Australia’s official lottery provider.

“I’m never going to work again,” he said.

“People give their whole lives to work, but I’m going to put my family and friends first. I’m going to help them and surprise them – some have been through a tough year.

“There’s also some charities I support and now I’ll be able to give them even more.”

The winning numbers were 29, 4, 17, 16, 33, 5 and 9. The all-important Powerball number was 13.

The man, who purchased his winning entry online at The Lott, initially couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“I just checked my ticket. Who do you call first? I’ve been through my phone trying to call my family to tell them, but they’re all asleep! I’ll have to tell them in the morning, but they’ll see all these missed calls from me,” he said.

“It’s funny as all day I was meaning to get a Powerball ticket, but I was busy and never got to it. This evening, I kept thinking ‘OK, what am I forgetting?’ which is when I remembered to get my ticket before the draw closed.

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The Brisbane man is celebrating his early retirement.

“Every time I’ve seen the news about a lottery winner, I’ve thought ‘that lucky guy, it’s going to be me next time’. I can’t believe it’s happened.”

The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 194 so far this financial year, including 47 won by Golden Casket customers.

Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $526.29 million in prize money.

During this time, Powerball offered a $150 million jackpot, the largest prize ever offered by an Australian lottery game, which was shared by three division one winners.

Of the 14 Powerball division one winning entries in FY20, seven landed in Queensland, four in New South Wales, two in Victoria and one in South Australia.

The current Australian lottery record of $107 million was won by a Sydney woman in her 40s in January 2019.

But unlike the latest winner, the woman stunned lottery officials by promising to keep her healthcare job despite her new-found fortune.

“I’m so passionate about my job. It will drive me to do more health work for causes important to me,” she told The Lott at the time.

“I’m not quite sure what to do but of course I will be helping my family.”