Former Victorian premier Dan Andrews has been hospitalised with an unknown illness.
Mr Andrews was admitted to Monash Clayton hospital several days ago and is currently being treated there, the Herald Sun reports.
While the cause of his illness is a mystery, Mr Andrews is known to be a long-time smoker.
His hospitalisation comes three months after a controversial visit to Beijing where he attended a military parade alongside autocratic leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.
Mr Andrews did not attend in a diplomatic capacity, but instead in a private one.
At the time, he defended his appearance as a chance to engage with “regional leaders”.
“I’ve said for years that a constructive relationship with China – our largest trading partner – is in Australia’s national interest and hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs depend on it. That hasn’t changed,” he said in a September statement.
His last medical episode occurred in 2021 during a family holiday in the Mornington Peninsula, where he suffered respiratory failure and crushed his back after a nasty fall.
He had narrowly avoided a life-changing injury and underwent rehab for several months afterwards.
The Mornington Peninsula accident came two years before Mr Andrews – who was Victoria’s longest-serving premier – abruptly resigned after almost a decade leading the state.
