THE Rudd Government will next month try to lock Parliament in to approving the sale of its new broadband company by 2022 in a bid to avoid a repeat of the bitter Senate debates over the privatisation of Telstra.

In an interview with the Herald, the Broadband and Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, revealed the legislation to set up the company will also prevent the government from keeping it in majority public ownership.

"We're legislating that sell-down provision. It will be a mandatory requirement to do it," he said.

It represents an ideological shift from the position Labor held in the 1990s and 2000s in government and opposition when one of its most sacred policies was to keep Telstra in public ownership because it was a vital asset.

The Government this week made the shock announcement that it was setting up its own broadband company to provide superfast internet to homes, schools and workplaces because no private company could offer a deal that offered value for taxpayer dollars.