Whilst I agree that all unnecessary welfare should be cut, we still need the minimal safety net.
The minimum safety net will prevent the misery of poverty, the necessity of home defence and personal protection...and is the Right Thing from an ethical and moral point of view.
Unnecessary welfare includes jobs for jobs sake (private or public, mostly public), corporate and middle-class welfare such as baby bonuses and Private Health Bribery Laws. Allow folks a career and affordable home and they will breed. The low birth rates that sparked the Howard handouts was due the generations who are afflicted by low job security and sky-high credit boom housing.
The other Elephant is the absurd sums spent on military adventures, and highly profitable "industries" that merely suck wealth from economy without adding anything to it. Banking has boomed due to fractional reserve banking and credit growth...the "growth" is illusionary but the profits extracted are not...some poor worker has to pay for the execs 3rd home, exotic cars, etc...the wealth does *not* come from no-where!
The Eurozone is a mess of single currency, multiple Bond markets and crazy accounting. We have the option of running sound money and sound accounting...if we can just address the elephants and stop the industry hacks from distorting every profitable issue!