The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has vowed to establish a bipartisan “war cabinet” to help tackle the stark disadvantages faced by indigenous Australians.

The promise, which has been welcomed by many in the field of indigenous peoples’ health, followed Rudd’s historic apology last week to the “stolen generations”—the tens of thousands of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and mixed race children taken from their families between 1910 and 1970.

“For the pain, suffering, and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry,” Mr Rudd said in parliament. “To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the …