Disgusting conspiracy theories have circulated about Daniel Andrews’ secretive health battle after the ex-Victorian premier was rushed to hospital.
Andrews was taken to Monash Clayton Hospital in Melbourne’s south-east just before Christmas and reportedly remains in a ‘very bad way’ amid speculation he suffered some kind of stroke.
However, outspoken internet voices have falsely declared the 53-year-old former politician may have suffered a ‘Covid vaccine injury’, or that he is faking an illness to avoid a federal defamation action launched by bike boy Ryan Meuleman.
Andrews filed his defence to the Federal Court of Australia just before the deadline, which was the close of business on Tuesday.
He had previously been given a deadline of December 19, but was granted an extension due to his medical problems.
A hearing scheduled for Tuesday was also adjourned until next month, with the hearing expected to be livestreamed.
Andrews’ failure to respond to the court’s requests sparked furious debate online, where the former premier’s many haters unleashed.
One social media user posted a video in which he falsely declared ‘thinking Australians’ are asking the question is Andrews’ health battle a ‘vax injury’ or ‘an mRNA experiment injury’.
‘So we can only guess, is Daniel Andrews vax injured? Is it just a normal stroke or it perhaps a cover story for him to play dumb because he’s got a court case coming up regarding the kid that he ran over, sorry folks, allegedly ran over,’ he falsely claimed.
Other social media users have also thrown out wild and false accusations that Andrews is faking his health issues to escape the scrutiny of the defamation case.
‘He’ll be off back to China to meet all his mates, fit as a fiddle once the case is over! I can almost hear sad violins playing in the background leading up to the hearing!’ a Facebook user posted.
Andrews has maintained his wife Cate was driving the car and Mr Meuleman rode into the family’s Ford Territory SUV in Blairgowrie on January 7, 2013, which has led to the current defamation case.
The notorious chain-smoker has not posted an image of himself to social media since October 23, 2024.
In that image, Andrews’ face appeared a shade of red, with some insiders claiming it to be the telltale sign of health difficulties stemming from a stress-filled life and an appetite for vices such as alcohol and cigarettes.
‘It’s no secret he likes a drink and loves a smoke just as much,’ one insider told Daily Mail on Tuesday.
His only other recent public appearance was snapped in China while he was watching a huge Communist military parade in September.
Andrews was filmed being greeted by President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on a red carpet procession before the parade kicked off.
Andrews and Xi shook hands for several seconds as both men appeared to exchange warm pleasantries.
He also happily posed for a ‘family photo’ alongside a rogues’ gallery of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
It is understood that Andrews was attending in a personal capacity, plying his trade as a lobbyist after leaving political office.
Alarm bells about Andrews’ health were first raised last month when close friend and former Labor powerbroker Tim Picton died, and insiders noted Andrews unusually made no public comment.
Details about why Andrews was being treated have been tightly controlled, with one senior source telling the Herald Sun the secrecy was on par with that surrounding former F1 champ Michael Schumacher’s condition after his ski accident.
In March 2020, as Victoria’s first lockdown began, Andrews warned Victorians that it was not appropriate to ‘have all your mates around to your house to get on the beers’.
He angered them even further years later upon releasing the state from what became the longest Covid lockdown in world history.
Asked if Victorians could finally ‘get on the beers’, Andrews scoffed at the suggestion.
‘I don’t know that I’ll be drinking a beer tonight,’ Andrews said. ‘I might go a little higher up the shelf.’
He later posted an image to social media of a doughnut and a $119 bottle of whisky.
The former premier’s latest health scare revives memories of his notorious back injury during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021.
While on a family holiday on the Mornington Peninsula, he suffered a nasty fall on slippery wooden stairs, resulting in a severe spinal injury that required hospitalisation, X-rays, and a lengthy recovery involving a spinal brace and gradual walking rehabilitation.
The incident sparked wild conspiracy theories at the time, but Andrews later confirmed it was a genuine accident that left him in significant pain.
Adding to the intrigue are his well-documented personal habits.
Andrews has long been known to be a smoker, with viral footage from September 2023 capturing him puffing on a cigarette outside a function – sparking speculation it was a sign of stress ahead of his surprise resignation shortly after.
The former premier had been making headlines throughout last year on the back of the ‘Bike Boy’ incident.
The saga dates back to January 7, 2013, when the then-opposition leader was in a Ford Territory SUV with his wife and three children when she allegedly hit the 15-year-old.
Andrews has also copped heat on the golf course, with several high-profile clubs declaring he was unwanted.
Then in November, former billionaire mate James Packer unleashed a blistering attack on Andrews in a wide-ranging interview published on Joe Aston’s Rampart Talks podcast.
In it, Packer branded Andrews ‘human filth’, called him his ‘least favourite person in the world’, accused him of betrayal, and claimed he had ‘almost ruined my life’ and ‘ruined Victoria.’
In the final weeks before Crown’s $8.9billion sale to United States private equity firm Blackstone, Andrews’ administration changed tax rates on Crown Melbourne.
Packer claimed the move ripped about $50million out of the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation, with ‘no compensation.’
Andrews reportedly been linked to Blackstone leading up to the sale in what turned out to be baseless gossip.
In a Chinese television interview in March last year, the former premier lauded Chinese president Xi Jinping’s record on renewable energy changes and declared he was ‘honoured to be an old friend of the Chinese people’.
In that interview, Andrews appeared to have gained weight but otherwise seemed healthy.
