Man has never been outside Australia wins $23million but can’t travel because of coronavirus

A new retiree who has never been outside Australia has won $23million in the lottery only to have coronavirus limit his travel plans.

The man from Narre Warren in Melbourne’s south-east took the division one Powerball prize from Thursday night’s draw.

Months before winning one of Australia’s biggest ever lottery prizes, he had to cancel an overseas trip.

‘I was so disappointed,’ he told the Lott publicity team.

‘I have never been outside of Australia but have always wanted to go.’

A new retiree who has never been outside Australia has won $23million in the lottery only to have coronavirus limit has travel plans. The man from Narre Warren in Melbourne’s south-east took the division one Powerball prize from Thursday night’s draw

The instant millionaire, who wished to remain anonymous, said he hoped to travel overseas, once the world’s borders opened again.

‘As soon as the travel bans are lifted we’ll be taking a family holiday overseas,’ he said. 

The COVID-19 pandemic stretched his family’s finances, with the Powerball win a relief for someone who hadn’t ‘been able to retire up until now’.

‘My family have been really affected by the coronavirus so it will be awesome to know we will be okay,’ he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison closed Australia’s borders to non-citizens and non-residents on March 20. 

Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert from Australian National University, said Australians would be unlikely to be allowed to travel overseas until October at the earliest – depending on infection rates in Europe and North America.

The instant millionaire, who wished to remain anonymous, said he hoped to travel overseas, once the world's borders opened again. Pictured is a bulldozer blocking a Virgin Australia jet at Perth airport

The instant millionaire, who wished to remain anonymous, said he hoped to travel overseas, once the world’s borders opened again. Pictured is a bulldozer blocking a Virgin Australia jet at Perth airport

‘You would only be allowed to go if it was a relatively safe place but you’d have to put up with being quarantined for two weeks when you get back,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

How the coronavirus restrictions could be eased

MAY: More schools open. No more fines for leaving home

JUNE: Gatherings limit increased to allow very small social events. Restrictions lifted on ‘non-essential’ businesses and shops

JULY: Pubs, cafes, restaurants return but with ‘tight controls’ – limits on numbers and spaces between groups

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER: Interstate holidays resume with half-empty planes. Pubs, restaurants and cafes fully reopened.

OCTOBER: The earliest international travel to select countries could resume but returning travellers would still need to quarantine for 14 days

That could occur a short time after Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory reopened their borders in August and September.

During that time, travel could resume with New Zealand, which like Australia has low COVID-19 infection rates.  

‘Domestic travel will start up again much easier providing we can keep our infections rates low here, plus lots of testing, washing hands, no big crowds and physical distancing,’ he said. 

Even if he can’t travel overseas anytime soon, the Powerball winner has the distinction of winning one of Australia’s biggest ever lottery prizes.

An Australian record was set in January 2019 when an inner-Sydney woman won $107million from an online Powerball entry.

That prize, won by a healthcare worker in her forties, dwarfed the previous $70million record set in January 2016 when grandparents from Hervey Bay, north of Brisbane, won the Powerball jackpot.

Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert from Australian National University, said Australians would be unlikely to be allowed to travel overseas until October at the earliest - depending on infection rates in Europe and North America. Pictured is tape enforcing social distancing at Perth airport

Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert from Australian National University, said Australians would be unlikely to be allowed to travel overseas until October at the earliest – depending on infection rates in Europe and North America. Pictured is tape enforcing social distancing at Perth airport 

Two years earlier, in December 2013, a group of women from Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast won $70million from OzLotto after buying tickets with their left-over lunch money.

Australia’s biggest lottery prizes

JANUARY 2019: $107million Powerball (Sydney’s inner-west)

JANUARY 2016: $70million Powerball (Hervey Bay, Queensland)

DECEMBER 2013: $70million OzLotto (Runaway Bay, Gold Coast) 

NOVEMBER 2018: $60million Powerball (Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast) 

Proving the Gold Coast is indeed a lucky area, a $60million Powerball prize was won by a retiree from Burleigh Heads in November 2018.

In January 2018, a mystery Melbourne Powerball player, from Brunswick in the city’s inner-north, won $55million from a January ticket – but didn’t claim the prize until July. 

It was also a lucky year for a blue collar worker, from St Albans in Melbourne’s north-west, who won $46.6 million playing OzLotto.

The latest Powerball winner took $23million from draw 1249 with the numbers 32, 35, 3, 18, 7, 6 and 14. The all-important Powerball number was two.

The winning entry was bought at Casey News & Lotto, at Casey Central Shopping Centre in Narre Warren South.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk