Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The final winners of Lotto's $50 million must-be-won draw have claimed their portion, saying they will be able to look after their family for generations.
The draw took place on 8 June, but the Auckland couple, who wanted to remain anonymous, took more than two weeks to check their ticket.
Seven winners split the $50m, meaning each winner received $7.18m.
In a statement from Lotto, the couple said they occasionally purchased Lotto tickets - but decided to pick up a ticket for that special draw as it had to be won.
But after the draw, they did not pay too much attention to the result and were unaware a winning ticket was sold at the store they had purchased from.
"Because we don't buy tickets all the time, we usually only check our tickets when we remember to - we weren't in a rush," the man said.
Weeks later, the man decided to check his ticket which was still in his wife's handbag. Scanning the ticket, the app told him he had won a major prize and to take the ticket into a store.
"I wasn't sure how much I'd won … but I had a feeling that it was a big amount."
The next day before completing a grocery shop, the couple discovered they had won $7m.
"We were so excited," the man said.
A family meeting was called to tell the couple's children about the win later that day.
One of the children told Lotto they thought something serious had happened - because being asked to get together so quickly was unusual.
"We all sat around the table waiting and that's when they told us they had won $7m with Powerball. We were all so excited for them.
"There were lots of tears for sure. They've worked incredibly hard all their lives for us, they really deserve this," the couple's child said.
The couple's children wanted them to do something special for themselves - like an overseas trip and finish renovations to their home.
But the man said it was all for his kids.
"It's all for them - everything has been. It means so much to know that my family will be looked after."
