Lotto: Search for WA’s $30 million winner over as winner identified as Malaga Newsagent customer

The hunt for WA’s $30 million Lotto winner is over!

Thursday’s entire Division One Powerball jackpot was won by an eastern suburbs player, Lotterywest confirmed.

Malaga Newsagency holds bragging rights over the winning ticket’s sale, which was registered to a Lotterywest Membership.

The organisation was able to contact the winner on Friday morning to confirm the player’s identity.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, Lotterywest spokesperson James Mooney relayed the events that took place.

“Someone in our customer service team probably had the best job in the State today, where they got to ring someone who bought a ticket from Malaga news agency,” Mr Mooney said.

“We’re on level three, customer service is on level two. Soon as they finished that call, they came running up with this big smile on their face as they finished that call.”

“So a sensational result for Western Australia.”

As the ticket was registered, the winner does not need to confirm the validity of their victory in person at Lotterywest HQ in Subiaco.

Aside from perhaps not wanting to draw immediate attention to themselves, the winnings are not actually paid until two weeks following the draw so there’s no immediate requirement to present in person.

But whether it’s a family purchase, part of unofficial syndicate, or entirely individual, the organisation will find out in the coming weeks when the winner does come forward.

“Fingers crossed it is with the syndicate because that’s the best case scenario for us at Lotterywest, we want to celebrate the big wins, we want to celebrate a West Australian’s life changing prize,” Mr Mooney said.

Where does this latest haul rank in the State’s biggest for the year?

There have been 52 Division One winners this year in WA, but no single win compares to the whopping $30 million.

A $40 million ticket sold in the Swan Valley last year is the closest in value, with Mr Mooney suggesting “whenever someone from the eastern suburbs wins a division one prize, they tend to win quite a big sum of money”.

While the nervous wait to identify the winner is over, should they not have been found, rules stipulate a one-year window for the rightful winner to come forward and claim their prize.

Asked the best bang for buck in terms of games, Mr Mooney offered his suggestions.

“If you’re interested in big jackpots, Oz Lotto and Powerball is the way to go,” he said.

“But Saturday lotto is our most popular game, and that is a $5 million prize, and that generates the most Division One winners every year for us.”

Most Lotterywest sales are still derived from retail outlets as opposed to online or the Lotterywest app, Mr Mooney revealed, with at least 70 per cent of tickets purchased from their 480 individual vendors across WA.

While many major winners plan to pay off their mortgage upon receiving their windfall, the majority consider how their luck could benefit others.

“People don’t believe me when I say this, but 90% of the winners I speak to makes me realise West Australians are really good people,” Mr Mooney said.

“They always end up saying, ‘You know what, I have a friend that’s a little bit down in their luck.’”

Often, it’s parents offering to pay for their children’s student debts or contributing towards a home deposit.

The next chance for players to win big is this Saturday’s $20 million Superdraw.