Up Periscope – Daniel (Dan) Andrews is the first political leader in Australia to take to the new live streaming app.
The Premier announced on Monday night – by way of a tweet – that he will conduct a question and answer session on Periscope at 6.30pm on budget night.
His team is encouraging people to tweet in their questions with the hashtag #askthePremier, with Mr Andrews planning to answer them from inside his office. To join in, users need to download the Periscope app and follow Mr Andrews' account.
Tomorrow at 6:30pm I will be answering your Vic Budget questions live on #periscope. Tweet your qs to #AskThePremier pic.twitter.com/WTM45TppTG— Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP)
May 4, 2015
Periscope is part of a new breed of mobile livestreaming apps that promise viewers the ability to see things through someone else's eye.
The Periscope app transmits a live feed from a broadcaster's phone, which can then be picked up and viewed by users in real time.
Periscope's builders suggest using the app for watching through the "eyes of a protester in Ukraine" – a little more dramatic than watching the Premier in his office answering questions.
Still, the Premier's team reckon the question and answer session is a great way of cutting through the layer between the Premier and the public and letting voters directly engage with the man they elected.
At the same time, Mr Andrews' team is assuring journalists they'll still get plenty of access to the Premier and Treasurer to ask their own questions.
The Premier's office is not sure how many people will tune in to the live stream – Mr Andrews' account has not even been set up yet. It's very much an experiment, but potentially one that could be repeated.
Mr Andrews plans to do about 15 minutes of questions and answers. He won't be the only one taking to new media to sell the message, with Treasurer Tim Pallas hosting a question and answer session on Facebook – a stone-age technology platform these days.
Unfortunately, the app is only available to iPhone users – Mr Andrews will have to be hoping that Android users find some other way of getting their Victorian budget news fix.
