The next big change coming for pregnant Michelle Payne

When Michelle Payne marked last November a decade since her history-making victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, she described it as the closing of an extraordinary chapter.

Now, she is writing a new chapter as she prepares to start a family. Payne, 40, is five months’ pregnant with her first child, with partner Gabriel Ribeiro.

“I felt like I did everything I could in achieving my goal of winning the Melbourne Cup, and as the first female to ride the winner I wanted to give back to racing and to women and sport,” Payne told CBD.

“That was something I felt was important to do. Then [after the 10-year anniversary] it was time to focus on myself and my own dreams, and everything has fitted into place.

“It is super-duper exciting. I’m feeling so excited and scared because it’s a whole new chapter that is just so foreign to me, even though I’ve been around lots of sisters that have had children and my brother, Patrick.

“I’m definitely not taking it lightly, but it is just really exciting at the same time because it is a real privilege to fall pregnant naturally.”

Payne, who grew up in the public eye as part of the thoroughbred racing Payne family – she was one of 10 children, eight of whom became jockeys – and had her life story told in the Rachel Griffiths-directed film Ride Like A Girl, said having a family had been a long-held goal.

“Right from when I was a little girl, it was winning the Melbourne Cup and having a family of my own; they were certainly at the top of my list,” she said.

With Payne’s baby due in January, Ribeiro’s mother recently visited from Brazil.

“She could not be any more excited or supportive,” said Payne, who is working with DrinkWise to urge women to avoid alcohol during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

“It is great to have the support of a great partner and his family. We are over the moon.”

In further change, Payne has placed her thoroughbred training property at Ballarat on the market.

“If the right buyer comes along, that would be fantastic, but if not, it is a great property and investment to have,” she said.

For now, Payne is in “mum mode” and is “just totally focused on giving this little person the best start to life that they can have”.

In limbo, ‘in pieces’: State of Andrews statue revealed

What to do with a problem like a Daniel Andrews statue that no one wants any more after you’ve spent $60,000 on it?

It turns out the now-cancelled plan to erect a statue of Andrews has so far led to that amount being paid on a contract worth $134,000.

Premier Ben Carroll revealed the figure on ABC Radio Melbourne late on Monday afternoon.

“Half of the contract has been paid, which is around $60,000, and the design work had commenced,” Carroll said, before blaming former premier Jeff Kennett for the statue stuff-up.

“This was a Liberal Party policy under Jeff Kennett of doing statues of premiers. I believe our statues, particularly on the Labor side of politics, are hospitals and schools.”

He added that having future taxpayer-funded statues of former premiers didn’t pass the pub test.

When Carroll pulled the pin on the divisive project at the weekend, he told reporters he had no idea how advanced the construction of the taxpayer-funded Andrews statue was, so CBD did some digging and discovered design work had started and some casts had been made.

The early stages of the dumped statue project are apparently sitting in pieces in a Fitzroy foundry. CBD has been told by people unauthorised to speak publicly that instructions are yet to be received on the next move for the unloved proposed work of art.

Whether the early design work amounts to a full Dan or is simply a collection of proposed appendages with other bits still to be moulded is unclear. Even the identity of the sculptor remains unclear.

The statue was commissioned by then-premier Jacinta Allan back in March, and when news of its dumping broke, Kennett suggested the statue be recast in honour of US singer Dolly Parton, who died last week. Nice idea.

Shadow federal treasurer Tim Wilson even joined the conversation, telling Nine’s Today show there was serious risk that if the statue did see the light of day it could become a public urinal.

Carroll said that while the Dan plan would be scrapped, the contract to build a statue would not be cancelled and an independent panel would come up with an alternative subject for it. The make-up of that panel is still to be revealed.

Carroll’s decision to axe the Dan monument is part of his move to clean up the PR mess he inherited when he took the reins of the government. Keep swinging that axe, Ben.

‘Franchise’ move by top comic

There were some slick moves by funny guy Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann on Saturday night, and not just on the dance floor, when he managed to be virtually in two places at once.

Lehmann was a celebrity guest at the My Room charity ball at Crown Palladium but disappeared from his table just after entree, only to return as mains were plated.

In the intervening time, he bolted to the NGV to do a stand-up set at the Brainwave charity gala.

Social media revealed his double dip.

CBD is not having a crack. We’re just impressed at the multitasking on show. And he got good laughs at the Brainwave event.

“I’ve franchised myself out,” Lehmann quipped when CBD checked in on his Saturday dinner circuit sprint.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.