If Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley were to re-appear in contemporary Australia and remake her most famous novel, Telstra would be the monster. John Howard would be Dr Frankenstein, and Richard Alston would be Igor.

The privatisation of Telstra is arguably the worst of the Howard Government's economic failures. It was a classic example of putting ideology before economic sense.

Selling off a government-owned business in order to reduce capital debt is not, in itself, a bad concept.

Selling off a highly profitable government-owned business can work if done properly.