A ticket bought in Masterton has won New Zealand's richest ever lottery prize - $36.1 million - in tonight's Big Wednesday draw.
The winner gets a total cash and prize package worth $36,193,461 - the biggest-ever New Zealand lottery prize.
It includes $34,453,401 cash, an Audi R8, a Porsche Cayenne, $250,000 credit on an American Express Platinum Card, $250,000 cash towards luxury travel, a Four Winns V258 boat, and $750,000 cash towards a bach.
Kuripuni Lotto & Post Shop also sold a ticket which has won Big Wednesday second division, winning an additional $696,795.
NZ Lotteries has set up a special hotline for the winner, which is 0800 888 884.
"We are very concerned about protecting this big winner's privacy, therefore we encourage the winner to call this hotline. We can then verify that they have the winning ticket and arrange for them to claim their prize in confidence," said NZ Lotteries chief executive, Todd McLeay.
The previous largest Big Wednesday first division prize was a $12.8m package in February 2006, and the largest previous single lottery prize was $19 million in Powerball in April 2008.
NZ Lotteries said 4.78 million Big Wednesday tickets were sold for tonight's draw, compared to 500,000 in an average week. It generated $28 million in sales.
About 20 cents in every dollar spent on lottery tickets is transferred to the NZ Lottery Grants Board to be distributed to good causes.
Mr McLeay's advice for this week's Big Wednesday winner was to write their name and address on their ticket as soon as possible, confirming ownership, and to contact NZ Lotteries on 04 802 7 000.
