Australian voters on the election issues that matter to them

Australians are preparing to go to the polls on 7 September. The centre-left Labor party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faces stiff competition from conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott.

BBC News spoke to three Australian voters to find out what election issues matter to them.

Nahji Chu is a 42-year-old businesswoman who arrived in Australia from Laos in 1978 as a refugee. Government figures suggest that just over 13,000 asylum seekers arrived on Australian shores from January to June 2013. What to do with them is a key election issue.

Michael Roache is a 59-year-old, third-generation dairy farmer from Victoria. With the mining boom coming to an end, politicians are paying renewed attention to the country's 135,000 farm businesses as a source of economic growth.

Cecil Handford is an 84-year-old pensioner who retired in 1993. With an ageing population, around 65% of older Australians rely on a government pension as their main source of personal income at retirement.