Former deputy PM Tim Fischer gravely ill
The former deputy PM is gravely ill suffering from the effects of a 10-year fight with cancer.
Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer is gravely ill in Albury Hospital suffering from the effects of a 10-year fight with cancer.
Mr Fischer, 73, late last year disclosed he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment in a Melbourne hospital after being diagnosed with acute leukaemia.
The year before, the former Nationals leader said he had been undergoing mild chemotherapy for a cancer first diagnosed in 2008.
“I can confirm I have been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and completing a 28-day cycle of treatment in the Peter Mac Hospital,” Mr Fischer said in October last year. He praised staff at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has also received treatment.
The former Farrer MP — who was trade minister and deputy prime minister in the early terms of the Howard government — supported tough gun control measures following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 and later became the first resident Australian ambassador to the Vatican.
Since retiring from public life, Mr Fischer moved with wife Judy to a cattle farm at Mudgegonga, near Yackandandah in Victoria’s northeast.
Mr Fischer, who attended Xavier College in Melbourne, was conscripted into the Australian Army and served in the Vietnam War as a platoon commander and transport officer with the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. He was elected as a state MP in 1971 as a 24-year-old, and held various roles in NSW parliament before resigning in 1984 to contest the western NSW federal seat of Farrer.
He served as Nationals leader between 1990 and 1999, and retired from politics in 2001.
Mr Fischer has faced a series of cancer battles in recent years, including bladder cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma and leukaemia.
Speaking last year of his cancer battle, Mr Fischer attributed it to exposure to the chemical Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam.
“At least one specialist has suggested my immunity broke down a lot more quickly as a direct consequence,” he said.
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