duty of Government is to recognise and comprehend the world as it actually is, not as we might conceive or wish it to be. That is a cardinal principle of the way this Government has approached foreign policy. Australia, if it is to serve national interests in an effective manner, can no longer afford to impose on international events interpretations at variance with the facts." This approach translated into action in various ways, on 26 February 1973, Willesee led the push to recognise the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and directed the establishment of the Australian Embassy in Hanoi in July 1973. A new Embassy in East Berlin was also established in East Germany in March 1975 following recognition of the GDR in 1973, as well as a new Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea on 30 April 1975. Willesee was opposed to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor and is quoted as having said in 1975: He did not stand for re-election at the 1975 double dissolution election. During the 1970s Willesee worked for the United States of America in what a historian has called "a discreet relationship". Death Willesee died in Joondalup Hospital, Joondalup, two weeks after a heart attack, survived by his wife Gwen, and their six children, Colleen, Mike, Terry, Geraldine, Don junior and Peter. Through Terry, he was the biological paternal grandfather of author and cyclist Janet Shaw. He was the last surviving member of the 1950-1955 Senate. At his death, the Prime Minister said: According to the leader of the opposition at the time, Notes 1916 births 2003 deaths 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Australian Senate People from Derby, Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia