It mirrors, in many ways, the outcome of the Brexit poll in the United Kingdom and the rise of Donald Trump as a serious contender for the US presidency.

The presence of four One Nation Senators in the upper house for at least the next three years, and possibly six in the case of Ms Hanson, is also an object lesson to Malcolm Turnbull of the truth of the old saying "be careful what you wish for".

By calling a double dissolution in a bid to rid himself of an uncooperative Senate crossbench that included representatives from the Palmer United Party, the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party and a broad spectrum of independents, Mr Turnbull lowered the threshold for entry from 14.29 per cent of the overall vote to just 7.69 per cent.

With the benefit of hindsight that was a spectacularly dangerous step given Australia was not immune to the growing disaffection with major parties among an older, largely rural dwelling and inherently conservative section of the electorate that has been sweeping the globe.

These voters, who would once have been lumped in with "Howard's battlers" and who played a major role in bringing down the Keating government in 1996, feel disenfranchised by globalisation manifested through the abolition of tariff barriers, the dramatic restructuring of many industries and disappearance of others and what they perceive as increased levels of non-European immigration.

They form a constituency that is highly sceptical of book learning and academia, abhors political correctness and is largely convinced it has been left behind in the brave new deregulated economic world that has grown out of the structural reforms of the Nineties and Noughties.

The willingness of many of these individuals to believe the world has been sold a pup on climate change, that foreigners are taking over Australian cities and most of rural Australia has been flogged off to the Chinese is indicative of how emotion, perception and belief have trumped evidence and logic.

As a result of this, Australia's major political parties are under intense pressure to engage with the people they have left behind or run the risk of "know-nothing" movements such as One Nation gaining even more power and support.

The concerns that are underlying this political phenomenon are both real and legitimate and are borne out of a mismatch in employment, education, health services, social welfare and cultural diversity. The reality these voters face in many parts of the country is a world away from the digital economy that is trumpeted by the country's political elites, who have been blindsided by this rising disquiet with the status quo.

While a succession of governments, both Coalition and Labor, have been busy talking to the big end of town and creating a two, three and sometimes even four-speed economy, an older, less educated and much poorer constituency has been left asking "when will it ever be our turn?"

It is to be hoped the elusive answer to this dilemma will emerge over the next three years.