You'll get no argument from me in favour of privitisation....

You'll get no argument from me in favour of privitisation. Whilst there were always efficiencies that could/should be realised, I still believe we would be better off today by a country mile if we still had the (state) govt run electricity, gas and water authorities. The privatised bodies (especially electricity) are plainly ridiculous, overblown billing organisations which offer no service and are yet another bloated haven for overpaid executives who spend their days discussing marketing proposals, hiring contractors, auditors and overpaid accounting firms and sacking Australian low-level staff in favour of overseas sweatshops.

Agree that it is inevitable that an NBN of some description would have happened under a fully publicly owned Telstra.

Also agree that it would likely have been superior to what we currently have, but that was the doing of the 2014 elected Abbott LNP government (including Malcolm Turnbull, for which he should be eternally ashamed). For balance, it seems the eventual cost of Rudd's proposal was way understated, but, hey, that's what government procurement is all about - think fighter jets, or naval frigates or (heaven forbid) submarines.

My comment springs from my observation that there is no direct correlation between what the govt received from the TLS sale and the cost of the NBN. I can see where you might draw a connection, but no correlation.