We laughed at Trump’s run for president and marvel at the rise of Pauline Hanson. Why didn’t we see the sleeping threat?

‘Once a fish and chip shop owner, always a woman of the people … The fact that neither the major parties nor the mainstream media saw the rise of Pauline Hanson coming, is, on reflection, surprising.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

When Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in 2015 to announce that he was running for president of the United States, the world laughed.

And when I landed in Washington late that year to lead the ABC’s coverage of the election, there was an expectation that Hillary Clinton would walk into the Oval Office.