A Victorian Labor state election candidate has been forced to resign from numerous regional board positions after being outed as a Twitter troll.

John Anderson, from Bunyip in West Gippsland, sent a series of sexist, abusive, homophobic and harassing tweets dating back to 2011.

The tweets attacked Liberal politicians' gender and sexuality, and made sexualised remarks about grammar boys.

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said she intervened as soon as she learnt of the distasteful and offensive tweets.

She was alerted to the issue by a media outlet.

"Mr Anderson was asked to resign and he agreed to do so," Ms Hennessy said.

"These types of highly discriminatory comments don't meet community expectations and they certainly don't meet mine," Ms Hennessy said.

Premier says comments were 'appalling'

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was now distancing himself from the disgraced former Labor candidate, having met him on many different occasions.

"There's no explaining away those comments. They are appalling, and the right thing to do was resign and that's exactly what he's done," Mr Andrews said.

A screenshot of one of John Anderson's offensive tweets before he deleted his account. ( Supplied )

"This behaviour is completely unacceptable."

Mr Anderson ran as a Labor candidate in three Victorian elections in 2002, 2006 and 2014.

Liberal Party Upper House Member for Eastern Victoria, Edward O'Donohue, said he was also trolled by Mr Anderson.

"These vile tweets that John Anderson has put out there are homophobic, sexist, attacking people's character. It calls into question Daniel Andrews's own assessment of people," Mr O'Donohue said.

Twitter troll forced to quit AFL role

Mr Anderson has resigned from numerous boards, including that of Gippsland's main hospital, Latrobe Regional Hospital.

Screenshots of tweets from John Anderson's deactivated account. ( Supplied )

He also resigned as commissioner of AFL Gippsland.

A spokesman for AFL Gippsland said Mr Anderson had served on the commission for the past four years and had made notable contributions to the development of football in the region.

"AFL Gippsland has been made aware of a number of comments made by Mr Anderson that do not represent or reflect the values of a progressive community organisation," he said.

Latrobe Regional Hospital Board chairwoman Kellie O'Callaghan said Mr Anderson's tweets were deeply concerning.

"All board directors at Latrobe Regional Hospital are well aware of their responsibilities under the code of conduct for directors of Victorian public entities," she said.

"Compromise on these standards is not acceptable."

Mr Anderson, who runs a beef farm at Bunyip, has also quit his roles with the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Victorian Healthcare Association, and the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation.

Outing politically motivated, Anderson says

In a statement, Mr Anderson said he believed the outing of his anonymous Twitter account was politically motivated.

"I sincerely apologise for any comments I have made on social media that may have offended," he said.

"It appears that, given my political background, this may have been politically motivated. However, that is speculation on my part."

Mr Anderson said he had served on government boards under Labor and Liberal Governments, and it had "been an honour to serve my community in these various roles".

"I fully intend to continue to serve my community to the best of my ability, as those who know me would be aware that this [initial] article [about the issue] does not express who I am."

Mr Anderson has since deleted his Twitter account.