‘Not a real Australian’: bold claim made in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

SAS soldier claims rescue attempt of dual national was disparaged because woman was ‘not a real Australian anyway’.

An SAS soldier has claimed the head of Australian special forces in Afghanistan made the disparaging comment that a woman was “not a real Australian anyway” during an attempted rescue mission. Picture: Department of Defence

An SAS soldier giving evidence in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case has claimed that during an attempted rescue mission of a dual Australian/British national in Afghanistan, the head of Australian special forces in Afghanistan made the disparaging comment that the woman was “not a real Australian anyway”.

The SAS soldier said the comment was made in 2016 by Australian Special Operations Commander Jeff Sengelman during a video teleconference, as Australian special forces were trying to get more back up to support them on the mission.

Jeff Sengelman.

The soldier, known as Person 5, says he decided to leave the military after this episode.

The reference appears to be to a mission to rescue abducted aid worker Kerry Jane Wilson, who was held for four months after she was kidnapped at gunpoint from her office in the country’s east.

Two armed men posing as Afghan intelligence officers abducted the 60-year-old in April 2016 from the office of her charity in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province.

At the time, the Afghan intelligence agency, National Directorate for Security (NDS), would only say that special forces had staged the overnight rescue operation to secure Wilson’s freedom, and arrested four suspects in connection with the kidnapping.

Then Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed Wilson had been released unharmed and thanked Afghan authorities.

“I deeply appreciate the work of the authorities in Afghanistan whose support and assistance facilitated her release, as well as Australian consular staff who continue to provide assistance to Ms. Wilson and her family,” Ms Bishop said in a statement.

Wilson’s charity had been helping women in Afghanistan to start their own businesses. She has been working out of Kabul for nearly two decades.

Counsel for Mr Roberts-Smith, Arthur Moses, asked the Person 5 on Tuesday why he had decided to leave the Australian Defence Force.

Ben Roberts-Smith on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“It was a comment by someone on a VTC (video teleconference) when I was on a hostage rescue in Jalalabad,” Person 5 replied.

“What was the comment?”

“That the person we were going to rescue was half Australian, half British. When we were trying to push forward to get more assets and get the troop in to go after the hostage, the comment was made: she’s not a real Australian anyway.”

Major-General Sengelman has been credited in some quarters with initiating the inquiries into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, after hearing rumours from soldiers. He commissioned sociologist Dr Samantha Crompvoets to undertake more research into what he was hearing which in part led to the Brereton Inquiry.

That inquiry found credible evidence of up to 39 murders, with 19 current or former soldiers, almost exclusively from the SAS, to face criminal investigation.