Canberra man finds winning $40m Powerball ticket
A Canberra man has discovered he is $40 million richer after learning he was the mystery Powerball winner via a television news report.
The man, from Woden, just south of the Canberra CBD, was the sole winner of the 1571 Powerball draw on June 25.
However, he discovered that he was the winner about two weeks after the draw.
Lott officials expected the mystery winner to come forward because his winning ticket was not recorded on a player card or online account.
The man heard the news about an unclaimed ticket belonging to a Canberra resident and decided to check his ticket, telling The Lott he was “still in shock”.
“I can’t believe it. I had no idea until a few days ago,” he said.
“I totally forgot about my ticket until I saw on the news that they were looking for a winner with an unregistered ticket. ‘Maybe it’s mine!’ I thought.
“The ticket has been in my wallet all this time. I still can’t believe it.”
The man admitted that he would continue to work despite the huge earnings and keep the reward to build generational wealth.
“I still plan to work. I’ll be there more for the future children and grandchildren,” he said.
“I’m so happy. Thank you so much!”
The winning ticket was purchased from Thistle Kiosk in Woden.
Store owner Rudy Lu said the newspaper agency is no stranger to selling big-prize tickets, having sold seven division one winning entries in the past two decades.
The winning tickets included an unclaimed $4.8 million prize in the Set for Life 2072 drawing in April 2021.
“I took over the business two years ago and sold two division one winning entries here; however, the business has been long established and has sold more than 20 division one winning entries in the past 50 years,” Mr. Lu said.
“When I saw the news that there was a record winner in Canberra, I felt like we were the ones selling him.
“Congratulations to the winner, we wish you the best and hope you spend this money wisely.”
The winning numbers in the Powerball 1571 draw were 7, 29, 25, 18, 26, 23 and 17. The Powerball number was 16.
The Lott said more than 121.6 million winners took home more than $3.93 billion in prize money in 2025.
