An Australian military veteran has asked federal MP Bob Katter to return his medals to politicians in Canberra following the arrest of former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith.

Katter shared a photo of the note the veteran given to him by the former ANZAC on Wednesday alongside his five medals.

They are an Australian Active Service Medal with an East Timor clasp, International Force East Timor medal, Defence Force Service Medal, Australian National Medal and Australian Defence Medal.

'Bob, give my medals back to Canberra,' the note read.

'I no longer want them after seeing the way they treat veterans.' 

Roberts-Smith, the nation's most decorated soldier and a Victoria Cross recipient, was arrested Tuesday morning at Sydney Domestic Airport after arriving on a flight from Brisbane with his teenage twin daughters. 

He has been charged with five counts of war crime - murder over alleged incidents in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012 after a joint investigation by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The veteran has long maintained his innocence, and is languishing in Silverwater Prison after his lawyer deferred a bail application.

Katter claimed the medals given to him represented a wider community of veterans who felt 'betrayed' by the arrest.

'I want to acknowledge all our veterans feeling betrayed by the events of recent days – including one of my constituents from the Kennedy electorate who's asked me to return his medals to Canberra when I'm there next,' Katter wrote online.

'Pro Patria et Diem (For Country and Day).'

Commenters under Katter's post were deeply divided between those supporting Roberts-Smith, often by highlighting war crimes committed by the Taliban in the conflict in question, and those who believed he should go to trial.

However, the overarching sentiment of commenters was concern for veterans as ANZAC Day approaches on April 25. 

'What a sad state our country is in, for our veterans to feel this way,' one wrote.

'The soldiers who reported him (Roberts-Smith) are also veterans, they also deserve to be heard,' another said.

'Maybe you should wait for the trial outcome before you decide if he's being treated unfairly,' another wrote. 

'Returning the medals will not stop the witch-hunt nor influence the inquiry,' another said.

'This is sad for many men and women who fought for our country. Just before ANZAC Day as well,' another wrote.

Roberts-Smith previously sued Nine newspapers and journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters for defamation over a series of reports in 2018, which accused him of war crimes.

In 2023, Justice Anthony Besanko found, on the balance of probabilities, the claims that Roberts-Smith was responsible for the murder of four unarmed male civilians while deployed in Afghanistan were substantially true.

He had appealed his 2023 Federal Court loss, disputing Justice Besanko's findings, arguing they were not backed up by sufficient evidence for such serious claims.

Last year, Australia's highest court refused the former soldier's application to appeal the Federal Court findings.

The Australian Centre for International Justice welcomed the arrest of Roberts-Smith as an 'important step towards truth and accountability'.

Its principal lawyer and executive director Rawan Arraf has been a long-time advocate for David McBride, who brought forward allegations of war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

He is currently serving a jail sentence until at least August 2026, after pleading guilty to leaking classified documents.