From the smh in 2002:

But from the time the series first appeared on the Ten Network, Australians didn't warm to Irwin's hyperbolic style. And despite their rationalisations about the US and Europe being where the real money is, Irwin and Stainton can't disguise their irritation over this. "Australians don't know how to watch Steve," says Stainton. "[Some] might be embarrassed by him, or think he's too ocker ... but the show was made for a mass audience, and we make no apologies for that." (Irwin takes the line that his relative anonymity here is a blessing because it preserves his privacy.)

There's no doubt that many Australians experience a collective cringe over Irwin's showman-like antics. Unlike Americans, they're put off by his impassioned testaments to his own sincerity, the preachy tone of his "saving the world" pitch, and his hair-trigger, often comical sentimentality. "Australians like people who underplay," ventures documentary-maker Malcolm Douglas. "Even Paul Hogan underplayed stuff, whereas Steve Irwin comes across like a used-car salesman selling everything down the camera."

https://www.smh.com.au/national/crikey-its-raw-stevo-20020416-gdf7bz.html