Australia's state-owned Telecom, Telstra ... going, going, gone?

CANBERRA - They've sold a bank, a couple of airlines, heaps of airports and even a satellite.

With the sale of Telstra now a fait accompli, the Australian Government is -- like the New Zealand Government a decade before them -- running low in assets to flog.

Over the past 15 years, Australian state and federal governments have sold all manner of companies and assets.

But none of them would match what is likely to occur next year.

Yesterday's decision by Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce to back the full sale of Telstra -- albeit with guarantees on its customer service guarantee -- clears the way for the mother of all government asset sales.

The two previous Telstra sales have netted the Australian government around A$30 billion ($32.8 billion).

At the A$5.25 ($5.74) target price the Government has used in recent budgets, the remaining share that is about to go to market would bring in another A$32 billion ($35 billion).

About A$3 billion would be set aside to keep National Party parliamentarians like Senator Joyce onside, while the rest will find its way, either as cash or shares or a mixture of the two, into the proposed Future Fund.

The Telstra sale process has dragged on for nine years. Finance Minister Nick Minchin believes by the end of next year he will be able to deliver a Christmas present to Australian taxpayers with the Telstra sale completed.

But once Telstra is in private hands, what will next be slapped with a "for sale" sticker?

The government is having another look at selling Medibank Private and, despite promises that no decision has been made, it seems unlikely it will remain in the public's hands for too much longer.

There is debate about how much it could fetch.

The medical insurance field is filled with competitors, particularly not-for-profit organisations, that could easily undercut a privatised Medibank Private.

But it does have around 30 per cent market share. Some of the other large private funds might be interested in grabbing Medibank's members.

Then there is the Australian Submarine Corporation which has just scored the A$6 billion air warfare destroyer contract.

While there is support for its sale, there is concern about letting a company with so much expertise in the sensitive defence area being sold off to the highest bidder.

The government still has a share of the Australian Rail Track Corporation, while it could also sell the Defence Housing Authority.

And ultimately there is Australia Post.

But Senator Minchin, ready to play Santa with sale of Telstra, is much more like Scrooge when it comes to Aussie Post.

He said there was no plan to sell the company that last financial year turned a profit of A$521 million, even as the rate of snail mail slowed in the face of email.

Australia Post may be the last Government-shingled business standing - for now.

- AAP