Disability pensioner calls himself the "unluckiest" lotto winner
When a disability pensioner struck gold playing the lotto, he thought his luck was starting to turn, until a harsh ruling from Centrelink put a swift end to his celebrations.
Craig Hill had never won anything playing the lotto, until his numbers finally came up last month.
While it wasn't "the big prize", Hill claimed the second division win in The Lott's "Set for Life" draw.
"The main prize is $20,000 a month for 20 years. But this was second division, which is $5000 a month, for 12 months," Hill said.
It was a tidy sum of $60,000 to help pay off the mortgage.
"It's probably the dream of every Australian to win," Hill told A Current Affair.
"I'm very disappointed. I mean, you only ever win the lottery once. It's not a big prize."
After he was notified of his winnings, he thought he would do the right thing and tell Centrelink of the money he was soon coming in to.
"Initially, they said 'it's a lottery win, so therefore it doesn't affect your pension'," he recalled.
"I rang back later and (they) said, 'because you're a professional gambler now, you're getting paid monthly, it does affect your pension'."
If The Lott had paid Hill his winnings as one lump sum, it wouldn't have affected his fortnightly pension payments.
But because his winnings are being paid over 12 months, Centrelink considers it an income from professional gambling.
As a result, his pension has now been slashed from around $820 a fortnight to just $328, with his wife's carer's payment has been affected too.
"When I said I wanted it reviewed, they said are 'we going to apply the $5000 to your wife's carers allowance … because that's welfare as well'," Hill said.
Because of the lotto win, the couple is losing around $2000 a month.
The pensioner tried to ask The Lott to pay the money as a lump sum, but was told it didn't meet its criteria for an exceptional circumstance.
Now he's hoping for changes to be made to the rules.
"It has taken me 40 years to win a prize of the lottery … apart from $8 last week," Hill said.
"At 61 I really haven't got another 40 years to wait to win another one."
Craig's message to Centrelink is, "I'm not your enemy."
"I'm just a bloke that's struggling to make a living," he said.
Image credits: A Current Affair