We can no longer blame the British colonialists for our failings. This has become our original sin | Julianne Schultz

The voice referendum was our chance to go some way to fixing things. Instead the moral failures of our founding fathers sit on our shoulders

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Many Australian people wanted to do the right thing but on 14 October we failed.

In the process we proved Aboriginal folklore about us is right. In his Australian silence Boyer Lectures Bill Stanner distilled this thinking: We have no morals; we are like sharks." One old man told him, You are very clever people, very hard people, plenty humbug."