ENTERTAINER Tania Zaetta will receive a personal apology from the defence force chief over unsubstantiated claims she had sex with Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said there was no evidence of any such conduct by Zaetta during a concert tour in April.
A defence briefing document, leaked to the media, had referred to second-hand claims that Zaetta had sex with special forces soldiers at the Australian base in Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan.
"A quick assessment has been completed," Air Chief Marshal Houston told a Senate estimates hearing today.
"There was no substance to the allegations, and I will conclude the matter with a letter to the person in question.
"I will obviously apologise and express my deep regret about any hurt she has suffered."
Air Chief Marshal Houston said he was deeply concerned about the whole matter.
"It was not well handled by us. I was absolutely appalled that the names were put out in the `hot issues brief' and I regret the whole thing,'' he said.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said he attended the annual dinner with defence entertainers last week.
"I spoke to very many of them. Essentially they are disappointed with what happened but they are still very well disposed to do what they do and do very well which is to go out there and give of their time to entertain the troops,'' he said.
Defence department secretary Nick Warner said the matter was handled poorly in "various aspects''.
"It would have been a courtesy, it would have been the right thing to contact the individual earlier on,'' Mr Warner said.
The story surfaced on May 22 when News Limited newspapers published details of the leaked defence briefing paper.
The 37-year-old entertainer, radio host and TV personality strenuously denied the claims.
That allegation was attributed to fellow entertainer Angry Anderson, who later denied making the claim, and contained in the hot issues brief naming Zaetta and circulated to some 90 defence recipients, including the office of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
The brief was withdrawn a short time later.
A defence internal investigation was now under way to determine how that was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.
As well, defence has sought advice from the Privacy Commissioner and reviewed who should receive hot issues briefs, reducing the list.
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