11 January 2017

WA’s first Lotto winners for the year claim their $1.3 million prizes

Western Australia’s first Division 1 Lotto winners for 2017 visited Lotterywest this week to claim their $1,359,925 prizes from the weekend’s Saturday Lotto draw.

A family from Lesmurdie who had been playing in a family syndicate for the past few months won on a ticket they purchased from Lesmurdie Chemmart Pharmacy and News.

Their $1.3 million windfall will be split between five family members with each member receiving a $271,985 prize.

“The best thing about winning this prize is the fact that we’ve won it with our children. It’s wonderful to know how much of a difference this is going to make for our family,” said the parents.

“We were always hopeful that one day we’d win Lotto and all of us putting in $2.50 each week has paid off! It’s just unreal and is going to make things so much easier for us all.”

“After we checked our ticket we had a coffee to celebrate and splurged on two custard tarts. Usually we’d only share one, but we felt this was a special occasion!”

The family said that their win would help to pay off mortgages, finance new cars and furniture and even buy a new phone.

A Gosnells family, who claimed the weekend’s other $1.3 million Saturday Lotto prize, said it was a ‘great start to the new year’.

In the Lotterywest Winners Room, the family recalled the moment they checked their winning ticket, which was just after seeing the Division 1 winner sign at Good Fortune Lottery Centre in Maddington.

“We checked our ticket with more hope than we’d ever had before after seeing the store’s sign and couldn’t believe it when we circled all the numbers,” said the winners.

“Our heart was pumping when we took our ticket to the store to confirm the prize and the lady just looked at us and said ‘it’s you’ and my eyes welled up.”

The winners said there were tears of joy after realising they had become Lotto millionaires.

“Our whole family will benefit from our win. This really takes the pressure off and we’re excited that we won’t always need to buy home brand groceries now!” said the family.

The new millionaires plan on using their prize money to spoil their children, pay off their mortgage and help close family financially.

It’s not only WA’s Lotto winners who benefit following a draw, the local community benefits too with over $281 million going back to support the WA community last financial year.

The Gosnells Community Legal Centre received the benefits of those who play Lotterywest games with a $60,000 Lotterywest grant last year. These funds will help with the delivery of emergency relief to assist people experiencing financial hardship in the south east metropolitan area.

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Media Enquiries Pina Compagnone: 9488 6227 / 0438 996 884