‘We’ll see where the wind blows’: Michelle Payne’s quiet evolution

It is not quite a case of from the racetrack to the runway, but legendary Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne is making changes. After scaling back her training commitments in April, Payne this week launched her own apparel business.

In a further evolution, Payne, who has written two books, has a statue in her honour at Flemington and is a motivational speaker, revealed to CBD she is planning to bring her Ballarat training property, Nottingham Farm, to market.

“I’m not in a huge rush to sell,” she told CBD. “We will see if the right buyer comes along. Dad still has his house up here and we are actually doing that up for him at the moment.

“Stevie (her brother) is thinking of maybe moving to Melbourne to be closer to his girlfriend, so things change and we’ll just see how we go.”

The first drop from Payne’s clothing business, known as the Payne Collection, is monogrammed caps with beanies to come, followed by quality jumpers and T-shirts for adults. She will also release a children’s collection as part of the brand, with tops inspired by the colours of the famous purple, white and green silks she wore to pilot Prince of Penzance to a historic victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup.

“Overall, the collection is based on confidence, the idea of looking and feeling good in everyday life, believing in yourself, remembering your dreams and chasing your dreams,” Payne said.

“I still get so many messages from people who watch Ride Like A Girl (the film based on her win) with their children, so I thought it would be fun to do little rugby jumpers and beanies in Prince’s colours for kids.”

Payne retired as a jockey in July 2024 after a 23-year riding career. She began her training career in 2018 and held a dual training/riding licence.

So it was only natural that attention would at some point return to the departure of former NSW premier Mike Baird, who stepped down as a non-executive director at KPMG in September, without so much as a peep from the firm at the time.

Baird’s departure was the subject of intrigue in April, when he removed mention of the KPMG directorship from his LinkedIn profile, which The Australian Financial Review noted at the time, after quietly departing in September.

More interesting to us, though, were the circumstances of his departure. Baird, as a director of the accounting giant’s local board, was among those informed of the whistleblower complaint, CBD hears, and was further displeased by the way it was handled, even if it wasn’t the driver of his departure.

KPMG didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Baird declined to comment.

For those playing along at home: The KPMG whistleblower first made a complaint in 2024 containing dozens of allegations. As this masthead has previously reported, the claims alleged KPMG partners illicitly accessed board papers from a client, construction giant Lendlease, which were used to win lucrative audit work for other big companies, including Westpac.

KPMG launched an internal investigation, which the firm on Friday admitted failed to be conducted with the “necessary rigour required”, before bringing in the law firm Ashurst to review the investigation. Ashurst green lit the probe, but the whistleblower wasn’t satisfied.

The whistleblower later wrote to independent directors on the firm’s board calling for more. KPMG then brought in another law firm, Allens, which KPMG on Friday said was “continuing to challenge the conclusions” drawn in prior investigations, confirming that confidential client data was shared and potentially used to win new business. By Monday, KPMG was facing the prospect of losing its first major client amid the scandal.

But if KPMG’s handling of the allegations wasn’t reason enough for Baird to look for the door, the firm also rejigged the responsibilities of its board to take on greater responsibility in other Asia-Pacific markets.

In response to questions on notice provided to a 2023 Senate committee, KPMG said the firm’s independent board members were each paid “an annual fee of $160,000”. At that rate, we can understand why the former premier called it a day! We can only guess he’s feeling vindicated now.

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