The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 7 letter word BARBECUE STOPPER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
B
A
R
B
E
C
U
E
S
T
O
P
P
E
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "clumsily/that's controversial in Sydney" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case clumsily/that's controversial in sydney = barbecue stopper.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.