Communications and Sports Minister Anika Wells has drawn criticism after suggesting Australians’ deepening distrust of politicians is being fuelled by social media and the power of online algorithms.

In an interview with The Saturday Paper, Wells pointed to a recent conversation with a constituent as an example of what she sees as growing public scepticism toward government, politics and major institutions.

‘I had mobile offices last week and a lady came to talk to me about her various grievances and I was struck by how I could say to her, “I’m a member of the cabinet, that’s not true, we’re not doing that, that’s a scare campaign from online”,’ Wells said.

‘I look you in the eye and I tell you that will never happen in this government, and she didn’t believe me.’

Wells said the encounter challenged her previous belief that direct, face-to-face conversations could be enough to break through political cynicism and misinformation.

‘I’ve always found until this year even that the way to solve that malaise and that sense of distrust in the establishment was to go and knock on people’s doors and look them in the eye,’ she said.

‘What I’m noticing now is that they don’t. The power of online is so strong, the power of the algorithm is so strong that it is overwhelming our public institutions and the decline of trust is problematic for everybody.’

But her comments quickly sparked criticism online, with many arguing public distrust of politicians has more to do with government behaviour than social media feeds, noting Wells’ recent series of scandals. 

The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority found four breaches of parliamentary travel rules between 2022 and late 2025 involving family travel that did not coincide with official business.

Wells was ordered to repay $10,116.11, including a penalty, and apologised for what she described as ‘honest mistakes’.

Questions were also raised over a taxpayer-funded trip to New York to promote Labor’s social media ban, her use of Comcar, and travel by her husband under family reunion entitlements to attend AFL grand finals and cricket matches.

Further scrutiny followed an Adelaide trip that coincided with a friend’s birthday, raising questions over whether official business was the primary reason for the visit.

Daily Mail revealed earlier this year that Wells did not disclose her husband Finn McCarthy’s role as a lobbyist with government relations firm SEC Newgate on her register of interests during Labor’s first term in office from 2022 to 2025, prompting further questions over transparency.

A spokesperson for Wells defended her disclosures.

‘All ministers comply with the Prime Minister’s Code of Conduct for Ministers. The minister made the appropriate disclosures,’ the spokesperson told Daily Mail .

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One critic accused Wells of failing to recognise why Australians have become disillusioned with the political class.

‘Is there a less self-aware political leader than Anika Wells?’ the person wrote.

‘She says that over the last year she has noticed people, even face-to-face, no longer trust her or the government. She puts this down to “the power of the algorithms”.’

The same critic argued there are far more obvious reasons for declining trust.

‘Her own travel expense scandal aside, her government and party are masters of running scare campaigns, operating dirt units, and now outright lying to the public about core election promises.’

Another accused politicians of simply trying to dodge scrutiny.

‘”The algorithms” has become a last-ditch attempt at a low-hanging fruit to deflect and avoid any accountability,’ they wrote.

Others noted that Anthony Albanese had backflipped on his 2025 election promise not to change negative gearing or capital gains tax, only for both to be overhauled in the May budget.

‘It’s not the power of online that has cause the mistrust, it’s Albo and the Labor party keep lying or changing their mind on their promises,’ one said. 

The backlash comes as the Albanese government readies sweeping new social media laws aimed at forcing tech companies to take greater responsibility for content promoted on their platforms.

Under the planned Digital Duty of Care regime, social media companies could face fines above $100 million if their algorithms push users towards harmful material.

Australians would also be given more control over their online experience, such as opting out of algorithmically recommended feeds in favour of chronological or non-personalised formats.

The legislation is expected to be introduced this week, although it’s unclear if Labor has the support of the Coalition or the Greens.

Fire crews had to climb a ladder to reach the cockpit of an Amazon cargo jet after the aircraft skidded beyond a runway at Miami International Airport and slammed into vehicles on a busy road, leaving five people dead and five others injured.

Striking footage from the airport showed emergency responders working to access the Boeing 767-300, whose underside appeared blackened by fire, while fuel poured from a ruptured line near the rear of the aircraft.

The cargo plane had been arriving in Miami from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it overshot the runway at about 2 p.m. Sunday and “struck multiple vehicles” on Northwest 42nd Avenue, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told the Daily Mail.

Fire Chief Raied Jadallah said during a Sunday evening news briefing that crews reached the crash site within roughly 30 seconds of the emergency call and immediately discovered victims trapped inside their cars.

Responders also encountered the Boeing 767-300 engulfed in fire, with thick smoke and intense flames coming from the wreckage.

At least five people were killed in the tragedy, while three others remain in critical condition at a local trauma center.

Two others were also transported to the hospital with unspecified injuries. Authorities have not yet identified the deceased nor the victims taken to the hospital.

Federal investigators have since descended on the scene as they work to determine what may have caused the cargo plane to overshoot the runway.

But Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokeswoman Hannah Walden further confirmed to The New York Times that runways at Miami International Airport are not equipped with an Engineered Materials Arresting System – crushable concrete designed to bring planes that overshoot the runway safely to a stop.

The FAA has long recommended that airports install the system, which is ‘designed to slow the aircraft down at a rate such that it doesn’t create too much stress on the landing gear so that it decelerates at a steady pace,’ Michael Meyers, manager of FAA’s Airport Engineering Division, told Local 10 News in February.

‘EMAS does have a perfect record of saving all lives in every single incident that has occurred involving EMAS,’ he noted, adding that it is useful in South Florida, which ‘has some of the busiest airspace and aviation activity in the country.’

The product absorbs the weight of the aircraft and is designed for planes weighing more than 12,500 pounds.

‘It’s very similar to, like, riding from the parking lot onto the beach, into the sand,’ Runway Safe spokesperson Trip Thomas explained.

‘So you ride your bike on the parking lot, it’s really easy to go, and then you ride straight and even right into the sand, all sudden it becomes very difficult. There’s a lot of drag on the wheels and that’s exactly, essentially what’s happening here.’

The system came in useful last year when a small plane overran the runway in nearby Boca Raton, Florida, and the EMAS stopped the aircraft safely and prevented it from reaching the busy roadway just feet away. 

However, the FAA only requires EMAS for airports that do not have standard runway safety areas and as of February, only about 130 airports across the country have deployed the system.

The cargo plane involved in the fatal crash on Sunday, operated by North Carolina-based 21 Air, had been traveling at 129mph as it exited the ‘usable runway’ amid thunderstorms and gusting winds, according to data from flight tracking site FlightRadar 24.

It then came to a rest near a parking lot that services an Amazon warehouse and other businesses, with photos from the scene showing the plane largely intact behind two semitrucks. 

Automatic Dependent Surveillance broadcast data also shows the plane touched down on Runway 30 at about 167 knots, or about 192mph, and went off the runway at over 120mph.

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Meanwhile, Miami’s own Automated Surface Observation System reports that the plane had tailwinds of 20 knots to 30 knots amid thunderous conditions.

That data has led aviation attorney Robert A Clifford to believe the pilot involved in the crash ‘mistakenly or over-confidently’ decided to land the cargo plane with a tailwind instead of a headwind, which causes excessive touchdown speeds and leaves an inadequate distance for the airplane’s braking and reverse thrust systems. 

Investigators will now look into the pilot’s decision to land with such high tailwinds, said Clifford, whose firm represents 15 victims and their families who were killed or injured when a UPS cargo jet crashed shortly after takeoff last year. 

‘Certainly, the [National Transportation Safety Board] will examine that issue fully, along with the failure to declare an emergency,’ he said. ‘Also, to be examined, will be the performance of the engines to see if the reverse thrusters were properly deployed.’

Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney in the Miami-area, also told the Miami Herald there are a number of details about the crash that stand out to him.

‘You can see it stops in this parking lot area with the landing gear collapsed,’ he said. ‘The nose is kind of dipping down. We don’t know if that’s something that happened late in the accident sequence or early enough to have caused the accident sequence.

‘You can imagine the incident being caused by something else and then the landing gear collapsing, but certainly if there was an issue with the landing gear early in the accident sequence, that’s going to be the first clue for investigators,’ he continued, adding that the investigators will also look at the stormy weather conditions.

‘A landing at an international airport is complex,’ Rojas declared. ‘The pilot needs to be communicating with air traffic control. Air traffic control needs to be minding the weather and communicating that with the pilot.

‘We know we’ve had rain in Miami recently. Air traffic control needs to help the pilot understand the condition of the runway,’ he said.

‘Planes can land in nasty weather, but obviously if the runway is slick, that can sometimes cause air traffic control to pause or stop landings for a period of time.’ 

Following the crash, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a full ground stop at the airport. 

‘If you’re traveling through the area, please expect significant delays and potential cancellations,’ he posted on social media.

Miami International Airport has since reopened two of its four runways, but flights are still being impacted, with about 15 flights still canceled as of early Monday morning, according to FlightAware. 

As investigators now continue to probe what may have happened, a spokesperson for Amazon said it was ‘heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport.

‘Our deepest condolences go out to the families, loved ones and all those affected by this devastating loss.’

‘We’re working closely with local authorities and officials to learn more and will cooperate fully with any investigation.’

21 Air CEO Keith Winters also said the crash left his company ‘devastated’ and that it is cooperating with federal investigators.

‘Our deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives,’ he said in a statement.

‘Our immediate priorities are supporting those affected, assisting the authorities and ensuring that accurate information is communicated as it becomes available.’ 

Investigators from both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are now at the scene, with NTSB officials set to hold a news conference on the crash Monday. 

Donald Trump has unveiled what could be a new visual direction for the U.S. Space Force, prompting swift comparisons to some of Hollywood’s best-known science fiction imagery.

The Space Force, the newest branch of the American military, has faced ridicule before over uniforms critics said leaned heavily into a futuristic aesthetic.

But the latest reaction came after Trump shared an image of a proposed Space Force “Service Dress Uniform” labeled “Next Generation,” a title and style that many said appeared to echo the 1997 sci-fi film Starship Troopers.

According to the image description, the concept was inspired “by the discipline and functionality of the starship trooper uniform modernized for the guardians of the space domain.”

The proposed uniform design features a stark color scheme built around “space gray,” “midnight black,” “silver gray” and “satin black.”

Trump gave no explanation for the new uniforms. 

Many were confused by the post and the concept behind the uniforms, comparing them to the villains of various space films.

‘I see we’re going for the galactic empire look,’ wrote one, referencing the imperial officers’ uniforms in the Star Wars films.

‘This is the kind of design costume designers make to tell you who are the bad guys in a space movie,’ wrote another.

‘My concern is whether these guys understand the point Verhoeven intended in Starship Troopers. The thing is I don’t know what would be worse: whether they got it or didn’t,’ added columnist Jonah Goldberg.

Conservative pundit James Lindsay wrote: ‘Star Trek meets Spaceballs meets… uh… Hugo Boss.’ 

Coincidentally, the Space Force introduced a new, ceremonial dress uniform with blue accents at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar event in Washington two weeks ago.

The Daily Mail has reached out to both the White House and Space Force for comment. 

It is not the first time the Space Force has been accused of ripping off ideas from sci fi.

The branch’s ‘delta’ logo has been compared to the Starfleet badge in Star Trek, while the name ‘guardian’ for servicemembers has been likened to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

The uniforms debuted in 2021 were compared to outfits worn by soldiers in Battlestar Galactica,  Star Wars, Star Trek and other sci-fi classics. 

The branch’s ‘delta’ logo has been compared to the Starfleet badge in Star Trek, while the name ‘guardian’ for servicemembers has been likened to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. 

The new uniforms come as officials continue to hit home how important Space Force will be to the future of battle.   

Space Command head General Stephen Whiting has repeatedly emphasized the importance of space to modern warfare, warning that adversaries are developing capabilities to deny the United States access to key systems and reduce military effectiveness. 

He has said adversaries would likely seek to target US space assets early in a conflict.

To counter such threats, the US must adopt a more active warfighting posture in space, Whiting argues. 

That means not only protecting U.S. systems but also being prepared to threaten or strike hostile assets if necessary. 

He has called for orbital interceptors and other weapons.

‘We must be well-prepared for conflict in space. And if deterrence fails, we will fight and win,’ he told a conference in April.

Western officials warn of a range of threats, including ground-based lasers, electronic jammers, cyberattacks and anti-satellite missiles.

In orbit, the United States, China and Russia all operate maneuverable satellites capable of approaching and inspecting other spacecraft. 

Such systems could be adapted to carry weapons, including lasers or projectiles. 

Western officials say Beijing and Moscow have demonstrated technologies that could be used to threaten US and allied satellites.

The US has also accused Russia of developing an anti-satellite capability involving a satellite designed to carry a nuclear weapon. Moscow has denied that it is developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon.

The UK’s Tedman, in an interview last fall, said militaries now see satellites as ‘weapons systems’ that need to maneuver and fight. 

The West is ‘working hard to retain our strategic advantage in space,’ he said.

Some specialists note that disrupting satellites remains easier from Earth than through spacecraft-on-spacecraft attacks.

In a rare disclosure about its own capabilities, the US Space Force announced in June that it had introduced an earthbound electromagnetic weapon from L3Harris Technologies designed to disable or disrupt adversary satellites. 

President Trump established the US Space Force in 2019 after signing the National Defense Authorization Act. It was the first new military service created since the US Air Force in 1947.