Winning Lotto family fronts up

'It’s still all a blur, it's not real'

LATEST: A great-grandmother who shares one quarter of a $36m Lotto jackpot prize puts her family's win down to the luck of the Irish.

The winning syndicate is made up of a woman (who is also a great-grandmother), her two daughters (Fiona, a nurse, and Siobhan, a bakery worker) and her granddaughter (a fulltime mother).

The four family members from Masterton scooped the first and second division prizes in last night's Big Wednesday draw.

The syndicate called themselves 'Irish Luck', after their late husband, father and grandfather, who was a fan of the lotteries and horse racing.

"After my husband passed away I couldn't afford to buy a weekly Lotto ticket on my own pension so the family passed the hat around," the eldest member of the syndicate said.

"It's just amazing that we have won. My dream has come true as now my family will be well looked after.

"Only a couple of weeks ago my bank turned me down for a loan as I badly needed a new car. I look forward to going to see the bank manager now."

Despite the prize including two luxury vehicles, the great-grandmother only has ambitions to own a second-hand vehicle. She also plans a paint job for her "little house".

Her daughters are both looking forward to paying off their mortgages, and Fiona is keen to clear her $30,000 student loan.

Fiona described last night's winning moment during a press conference fronted with her sister, Siobhan, this afternoon.

"I was just getting into bed. Mum rang and said 'Fiona, I think we've got the numbers, the winning ones'. I thought she was just joking."

Fiona checked the numbers "a thousand times". "It doesn't happen to people like us. I still can't believe it."

Both Fiona and Siobhan said they would go to work tomorrow. The $36 million will be transferred overnight. So far the pair's only purchase has been a soccer ball for Fiona's son.

"It's still all a blur, it's not real ... it happens to everyone else," Fiona said.

"I'm the last one to give a dollar away for a raffle ticket."

Asked what else they planned to buy, the sisters said, "we're not going to do anything right now". But Fiona said a likely benefactor would be the Westpac rescue helicopter, as that serviced the Masterton area.

"Mum [also] wants to buy a new ambulance," Fiona said, adding that her mother - a newcomer to Big Wednesday - was unwell and had often required ambulance transport.

"We've got a couple of dung ones that never go.

"My mother has worked hard all her life to put clothes on our backs."

Fiona, who works weekends, said her family had just taken out a second mortgage. She doesn't have a computer at her home and nor does she own a working cellphone.

Siobhan - who bought the ticket, with numbers based on their birthdays, on the way to work yesterday - described her family as, "normal as normal is". She said the win was hard to comprehend, and expected to be hounded by people who could make them feel guilty for the money.

'I think it's going to be hard."

While her children had already put in a wishlist of things they wanted, her oldest son was still going to keep his job.

"They're still going to be doing their chores and earning their pocket money."

None of the syndicate could sleep last night because of the excitement. Siobhan jokingly said she was worried a morning tea shout might fall flat with her colleagues tomorrow, as she worked at a bakery.

"I haven't been able to sleep. I'm trying to work out if it's a dream or not.

"When it actually happens to you it's scary."

Despite the pair fronting today's conference, word of who the winners were filtered through Masterton quickly with family members receiving text messages within two hours of the draw. "And we don't know how," Fiona said.

"We didn't answer our phones this morning."

In a statement released prior to the conference the pair conference said: "we decided to give a one off media conference and get it all over and done with. Then hopefully we can get on with our lives and just enjoy the experience of being winners". 

The syndicate's ticket was bought at Masterton's Kuripuni Take Note Lotto and Post Shop and netted them $34,453,401 in cash, plus a slew of luxury prizes. They also claimed the second divison prize of $696,795.

Last night's win follows a $5.5m Powerball win for Kuripuni Take Note Lotto and Post Shop just 12 days earlier. It was the ninth first division prize for Take Note.

Kuripuni Sports Bar duty manager Phil Brazier was staggered to hear last night's golden ticket had been sold at the Lotto shop just across the road from him.

"We had just been talking in the bar about how somebody had won $36m and you're telling me it was sold from there? I can't believe that, and to think that I bought my ticket from another outlet in town. Damn."

COLLEAGUES HAPPY FOR WIN

Ten O'Clock Cookie Bakery Cafe part-owner Rosalie Kloeg said the win was "really nice for them".

Siobahn had been working there for around three years, she said. "She's a real nice lady, a real hard worker and we'll give her all for everything."

Rosalie said that although staff were excited being a bakery they were not expecting a morning tea shout though it would be "nice" to have her return tomorrow.

She said that Masterton's small size meant it would have been tough to keep secret.

"Everybody's got to be excited for them, it's 36 million."

CHARITY

Following the winning family's indication that they'd support the Westpac rescue helicopter, Life Flight Trust operations manager Dave Greenberg told Stuff.co.nz that any money donated would be gratefully appreciated.

"We're thrilled for them ... We'd look forward to talking to them about what a difference they could make in the Wairarapa community."

EARLY ADVICE

The district's mayor already has one piece of advice: don't park your new Porsche and Audi in the same street.

Garry Daniell said the prize equated to "about $1000 for every person in the Wairarapa". His council would welcome some of the winner's cash to help with infrastructure projects particularly a proposed $25m sewage plant.

"But whether somebody is interested in helping us with a sewage plant is doubtful. It is not very appealing."

A bit for the transport system would be good too. "The winner could buy a new rail system between Masterton and Wellington. They could even put heaters in the trains."

However, the syndicate had an answer for Mr Daniell: "Mum says she's paid a lot of rates over time. [But] we live in Masterton, so money is goign to stay in Masterton."

Hopeful Kiwis splurged $28m on a record 4.7m tickets before last night's draw, eclipsing the 2.9m tickets sold last week.

But before the winning syndicate considers giving some of their new riches to family and friends, they may want to think about the taxman. Tax expert Greg Bishop said that for every $1m gift, up to $250,000 would have to be paid to the Government in gift duty. However, if the gift was for a registered charity, the giver would receive a refund of $333,000.

Before the draw took place, a strict routine was followed in which a scrutineer donned white gloves, took the balls out of a safe and popped them in the machine.

"No one can touch the balls with their hands," Ms Jones said. "The balls have to be the exact same weight and we have to make sure they don't get dirt on them."

THE NUMBERS

09, 11, 19, 24, 28, 39 + H

ON THE BALL

Big Wednesday prizes:

Division one - $36.19 million, one winner

Division two - $696,795, one winner

Division three - $988, 813 winners

Division four - $19, 40,021 winners

Division five -  bonus ticket, 645,377 winners

- The Dominion Post and Stuff.co.nz