Australia will spend $1 billion to revitalise manufacturing across six sectors, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, as the government pushes to get the economy out of the deep slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The move to put manufacturing at the centre of a long term recovery plan comes amid a realisation that Australia has been too reliant on Asia for the supply of essential goods, according to Reuters.

“We make things in Australia. We do it well. We need to keep making things in Australia. And under our plan we will,” Morrison said in a speech in Canberra, as he outlined the plan to spend on manufacturing over a decade.