We can reset our economy as not only an exporter of raw materials but as a new producer on the world stage, manufacturing our products for domestic consumption and exports.

It may mean that for a while we employ a communist-style command economy, where the government is the dominant player in the marketplace.

But it will take a command economy to emerge from the biggest hit to the world economy since the 1930's Great Depression.

It's an opportunity because the pandemic is so widespread across the world Australia may well survive as one of the few countries with the technology capable of quality manufacturing, for a world of economically and socially weakened nations.

Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania

The pandemic is a revolution in our way of life, both here at home and in regions the world over.

The world will never be the same again.

We are caught up in the biggest calamity since World War II.

The West is racking up a lifetime of debt trying to get through the next six months.

This will add an unbearable burden on nations for years to come.

Regardless of the massive rescue bill globally there's still a fair chance the world is facing a prolonged recession and more likely a Great Depression.

It's like packing up the economy in a trunk and storing it in the attic.

When you shut down the economy you shut down government revenue and eventually the capacity for stimulus spending dries up.

Then a nation with a crippled economy goes bankrupt.

Some years ago I asked local statisticians to do modelling on unemployment during the 1930 Great Depression in Tasmania. They said it reached 50 per cent!

Tasmanian premier Albert Ogilvie battled the Depression by marshalling road gangs to manually build a road to the Mt Wellington pinnacle.

It kept thousands of unemployed in a job.

We can repeat this in a modern way. When this nightmare is over we should reset the economy and become more self-reliant by reviving our manufacturing heritage.

Think of those iconic Australian products we lost to the world - Arnotts, Bushells, Uncle Tobys, Golden Circle, Rosella, Cadbury, along with our giant manufacturing hub in the automotive industry. All gone. Holden was the last to go.

We are hooked on China, a major trading partner, which produces 34 per cent of all our imports while buying almost half of our exports, mainly raw minerals.

Why settle for cheap imports, when the Federal Government could invest billions of dollars to maximise and diversify our production? We export much of our raw materials but we rely on other countries for most of our manufactured goods.

It's a lousy example, but the pulp mill in theory was an attempt to convert wood chip exports into value-adding products like cardboard and paper, which meant we could charge more for our natural resources.

The doomed mill was a lesson in the critical importance of growing our economy; by making and selling stuff ourselves, rather than accepting that our overheads make our goods too expensive.

In this small world of huge economies China and India have so easily flooded the West with cheap goods, made by cheap labour.

We can beat this if we reset our economy.

The economic impact of COVID-19 has shown how employers and their workforce together are capable of driving productivity and creating new quality markets.

Surely after many generations of commerce since the industrial revolution, employers and unions could agree on a wage structure that sustains the workforce but also enables Australia to trade competitively.

The Australian government spends a few billion a year to support manufacturing sectors. After the pandemic is contained the government should be spending $100 billion or more to foster new manufacturing industries that can aggressively compete with other countries.

COVID-19 has shown how vulnerable our huge tourism industry is in a world lockdown.

The crisis is killing our tourism and hospitality sectors.

On the flip side, Tasmanian wines were once scorned as cheap and revolting, but now they're winning international awards.

Think of our billion dollar salmon industry, other seafood, timber, wines, whisky, honey, beef, truffles, beer, leather, furniture and dairy products like our famous cheeses.

The task beyond the pandemic is not just a revival of the old economy. We need to turbo-charge our manufacturing sector and diversify into markets where we have traditionally been a recipient nation.

As a wealthy First World economy with vast natural resources we should be capable of a vibrant manufacturing industry.

If the Australian government leads the way in boldly kick-starting the economy it will be a moon shot worth aiming for.

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