An Australian public official has issued an unusually frank condemnation of U.S. Republicans. In a conference speech in Sydney on Friday, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan cited certain segments of the Republican Party as a leading threat to the world’s economy and rebuked them in stark terms.

Wayne Swan: “Let’s be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world’s biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over a part of the Republican Party. Despite President Obama’s goodwill and strong efforts, the national interest there was held hostage by the rise of the extreme tea party wing of the Republican Party. And there can be few things more alarming in public policy than a political movement which was genuinely prepared to see the government of the United States default on its obligations in order to score a political point.”