Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop will soon find herself out of a job, but we hear that the 73-year-old is not yet contemplating retirement. The NSW government is in the process of amalgamating local councils, a controversial move that has angered many councils that are not keen on losing their power.

A tipster tells us that Bishop will soon be announced as the administrator of a soon to be formed northern beaches council, taking in the current Manly, Warringah and Pittwater councils “unless common sense prevails and Mike Baird is talked out of a very silly idea”. We called Baird’s office for comment and were told to contact Minister for Local Government Paul Toole, whose office would only say: “Announcements regarding the outcome of merger proposals and governance arrangements will be made in due course.” It’s not a denial, and weirder things have happened.