Xenophon eyes hometown lure in SA

South Australia's parochial support for Julia Gillard played a key role in Labor's knife-edge win in 2010.

Now another hometown hero in Nick Xenophon looks set to pose headaches for the coalition as it fights to shore up marginal seats.

Labor picked up 53.18 per cent of the two-party vote in SA in 2010, marking the first time since 1977 that its vote in SA was higher than its national average.

With Ms Gillard deposed by Kevin Rudd in 2013, Labor suffered a swing of almost six per cent in SA compared to 3.6 per cent nationally.

The hometown factor looms large again in SA where Senator Xenophon has fuelled a perception among voters that SA has been neglected by successive governments.

The independent senator has continued to grow his local popularity since winning 14.8 per cent of the SA senate vote in 2007.

His ticket claimed 24.9 per cent of the vote in 2013, just short of the second quota required for running mate Stirling Griff after preferences.

If Senator Xenophon can replicate that success in a double-dissolution election, three or potentially even four senate spots could fall his way.

The Nick Xenophon Team is also considered a reasonable chance of stealing the Liberal seat of Boothby, where sitting MP Andrew Southcott is retiring.

The coalition's hopes of saving seats such as Boothby and ultra-marginal Hindmarsh likely hinge on the commitment of the successful French tender DCNS to build future submarines in Adelaide.

With SA experiencing the highest unemployment in the nation, the project is considered pivotal to turning around the state's economic fortunes.

So much so that Tony Abbott effectively signed his own death warrant when he left many in SA convinced he'd struck a deal to build the subs in Japan.

The former prime minister's deep unpopularity in SA was widely considered a contributing factor in his dumping by the Liberal partyroom.

Liberal MPs such as Matt Williams, who holds Hindmarsh by less than two per cent, will be desperately hoping Malcolm Turnbull proves to be a winning change.

Labor has had mixed fortunes in SA despite its stranglehold at the state level, where Premier Jay Weatherill continues to dominate the polls.

The coalition outpolled Labor in SA at 10 of the past 15 elections, Labor's two-party vote slumping as low as 42.74 per cent in 1996.

If Bill Shorten can emulate SA's popular premier and convince voters he can lead them out of the economic doldrums, the path to government becomes much clearer.