1. Donald Robert Willesee was an Australian politician.
13 Facts About Don Willesee
1. 2.
Don Willesee was a member of the Australian Labor Party and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1950 to 1975.
3.
Don Willesee held ministerial office in the Whitlam government as Special Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
4.
Don Willesee served as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1966 to 1967.
5.
Don Willesee's older brother, Bill Willesee, was a state parliamentarian.
6.
Don Willesee was educated at state and convent schools at Carnarvon in the same state.
7.
Don Willesee left school at 14, to work as a postal clerk in Carnarvon, and immediately joined the Australian Union of Postal Clerks and Telegraphists.
8.
Don Willesee joined the Australian Labor Party when he was 21 and was elected as a senator for Western Australia in 1950 at the age of 33, taking office as the Senate's youngest member.
9.
Don Willesee worked with Whitlam to reform the Labor Party prior to the 1972 election.
10.
Don Willesee did not stand for re-election at the 1975 double dissolution election.
11.
Don Willesee was a great human being, a man of immense integrity.
12.
Don Willesee was much loved by his staff, a passionate Labor man who never forgot the effects of the Great Depression.
13.
Don Willesee never walked past a homeless kid without digging deep into his pockets.