Have you ever seen the switches on eg the Aernos and Technium front drag series? Nothing like the ones on the modern Stradics - a tiny, tapering pointed tab that barely protrudes and , unlike the modern Stradics, where it's small but well situated, set so close to the reel body that when flipped one way, you can't get to the side of it to flip it back. The one I complained about was the Aernos. A friend with the Technium shared the opinion. I mail-ordered mine unseen; unwise, but I couldn't imagine they'd botch a simple switch. After trying to live with it for a while, I took it to the ts, they sell plenty of Shimano reels, and asked the staff what they thought. After a lot of head-shaking, they offered to take it off me and give me credit - even though I didn't buy it there - and said they'd get the Rep to take it back. Several anglers in the shop inspected it and I can't post their comments here but nobody tried to tell me it was fit for purpose or something they'd put up with.
I'd guess this was a switch designed by people who were told to include one, but assumed an angler might use it once in a blue moon, like a lube port, and didn't imagine it as something flicked on and off umpteen times while busy fishing. Perhaps, as in your Aussie example, UK coarse fishing styles weren't a priority.
