Humble farmer’s shocking response to winning $12 million lottery prize
‘Now is not a good time.’
Getting a life-changing phone call was the last thing Leonie was thinking of while working on the cane farm she shares with her husband Andrew.
So before Dream Home Art Union could congratulate her on a massive $12 million lottery win, she told them to call back later when she was done feeding cattle at her farm in Capella, central Queensland..
“Now is not a good time,” Leonie told the Dream Home Art Union lottery General Manager, Ben Sawkins, on May 6.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“How about we leave it for later because right now I’m under the pump.
“I’m in the middle of feeding 300 head of cattle and they’re all waiting for me.”
Having finished her day on the farm, she finally had time for the call to be told she had won a $12 million property portfolio and $1 million worth of gold bullion in Draw 431 of the union’s East Coast Triple lottery.
Sawkins initially told Leonie that she had won $50,000 in gold for having purchased a $50 ticket, which she said would use to give her husband a break, adding: “He works so hard”.
But after being told she had won the major prize in the draw, Leonie broke down in tears.
The prize included a beachfront property on the Gold Coast, an apartment in Sydney’s Potts Point and a retreat in Mount Martha, south of Melbourne, at an estimated total value of just over $10 million.
“We’ve worked so hard, we’ve been (up until) 2.30am in the morning for the last 14 days trying to get our crop in the ground,” she said, before sharing a sweet moment with Andrew.
“My husband, honestly, he’s the hardest working man in the world.”
“And I’ve got the best wife in the world,” Andrew replied.
The property portfolio will have its rates, water and body corporate costs covered for the year while the happy couple have also won more than $616,000 in furniture and appliances, and an $8,000 travel voucher.
The couple plans to go on a holiday but will continue to work on their land, with Leonie saying “we have to finish the job we started”.
Proceeds from the tickets sold in the Dream Home Art Union lottery go toward RSL Queensland to help support Australian veterans.
Originally published as Humble farmer’s shocking response to winning $12 million lottery prize
