In the lead-up to the 2022 federal election, the ABC's senior digital video producer Jessicah Mendes had an idea for a new show for Instagram and TikTok: Canberra Bubble Tea!
The premise was simple: Burst the "Canberra bubble" and spill the tea with first-time politicians over a cup of personalised bubble tea.
What drew the newly elected politicians to parliament from their past lives?
How do they work, what makes them tick, and who are their friends and foes?
And, most importantly, how much boba could they handle in their bubble tea?
The execution was a little more complicated.
What goes into making a social-first series?
We wanted to cover federal politics in a new way for the ABC's social media audiences.
This meant keeping things short and packing as many funny, interesting, quirky and unexpected moments into a 90-second package.
What sort of questions would bring the politicians out of the bubble to reveal something interesting — or personal?
What did they really think about issues that are most important for young Australians, such as climate change, housing affordability and eliminating discrimination?
It also meant framing our shots for these vertical platforms — using five iPhones and a whole lot of lights and lighting stands.
Three iPhones were set up like a multi-cam shoot, one trained on the politician, one on me and one with both the politician and I in the frame.
A fourth iPhone would be set up as an extra, behind-the-scenes shot that would be used for cutaways.
The fifth iPhone would be used to record audio from the tiny lapel mics we managed to keep mostly hidden by taping them to the inside of our clothes.
It took a year of planning — and convincing me to host the show — before we finally arrived at Parliament House in Canberra with our five iPhones, six outfit changes and an appetite for several cups of bubble tea, ready to grill first-time politicians about their first year in the bubble.
So, what's it like in parliament?
It was the first time Jessicah and I visited Parliament House for work.
Once we cleared security, we headed to the ABC's bureau in the Parliament House press gallery.
The first thing Jessicah noticed was the ticking clocks.
There are clocks in every hall, corridor and room, ticking away loudly — and ringing division bells any time a house of parliament is called to vote.
The first thing I noticed was the extremely long corridors.
I had to plan the delivery of bubble teas to the minute — there needed to be enough time to walk from the basement car park to the lift, take the lift up to the ABC office in the press gallery, stick an ABC lissajous on each cup, and find my way through the confusing maze of corridors and courtyards to the shooting location.
I would hope and pray that the division bells wouldn't ring because when they do, the lifts are reserved for MPs rushing to chambers for a vote.
So, did anyone spill any juicy secrets?
Not quite — but we learned a few interesting things from the politicians we spoke to.
Teal independent MP Monique Ryan is good friends with Bob Katter and Jacqui Lambie — but doesn't think Opposition Leader Peter Dutton likes her very much.
Ms Ryan made headlines during last year's election after ousting former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the seat of Kooyong, long considered a safe Liberal seat.
Stephen Bates finally started earning a decent wage as a politician, and spent his first pay cheque on a trip to the dentist to get his teeth fixed.
He worked in retail and hospitality before he was elected as the Greens MP for Brisbane.
I asked Liberal MP Aaron Violi to pick from Treasurer Jim Chalmers or Foreign Minister Penny Wong to be on his side in a negotiation.
He chose Senator Wong because of her "serious, I'm-not-happy-with-you look that would get people across the line".
Nationals MP Sam Birrell told us he had been enjoying the touch footy competitions every Tuesday morning before parliament began, especially when "the pollies" won against "the media".
My overall takeaway was that being a politician sounded like a lot of hard work that was mostly rewarding.
Did the politicians know what bubble tea is?
Well, Mr Violi was the only politician who was across the bubble tea trend, having worked for an online food-ordering app just before becoming an MP.
Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah said she would "tax" her kids' bubble teas by taking a sip, but had never ordered one for herself.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe was delighted when I told her there was red, black and yellow boba in her bubble tea: the colours of the Aboriginal flag.
"It's a real blackfella tea," she confirmed after taking a sip.
The politicians took no more than a few sips of their large cups of bubble tea each — the delivery platform only let us purchase large teas.
Meanwhile, I was shooting three interviews a day and consumed at least a litre of bubble tea over the two days of shooting — the sugar highs were just as intense as the sugar crashes at the end of each day.
Unfortunately, I didn't see the "half sugar" option until it was too late.
Where can people watch it?
The first episode of Canberra Bubble Tea! is up on all social platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
On Instagram and TikTok, the episodes will be 90-second vertical videos, while YouTube and Facebook will carry longer, horizontal versions of each episode.
