Local mayor says seat of Grey 'risks falling to Xenophon team'

The safe Liberal seat of Grey, in South Australia, risks falling to the Nick Xenophon Team because the government is taking it for granted, a local mayor says.

Rowan Ramsey holds the seat, covering 92 percent of the state, with a 13.5 percent margin but Port Augusta Mayor Sam Johnson says voters are sick of being overlooked.

"When we had the closure of the Port Augusta Power Station, the Liberals were invisible. With Arrium, there was a sheer lack of advocacy and action," he said.

Polling earlier this month revealed NXT candidate Andrea Broadfoot would defeat Mr Ramsey by 54-46 percent and attract 38 percent of first preference votes.

Mr Johnson, a Liberal Party member, said the loss of thousands of jobs in the Upper Spencer Gulf Region over the past few years made voters hungry for change.

"The most common question we heard [at a recent a forum] is `who should we vote for to get a marginal seat?'".

"You should never, ever take a seat with a big margin for granted."