With only 0.3 per cent between the major parties, the Victorian electorate of Corangamite is the country's most marginal seat.
Nikki Canning has the details.
The voters of Corangamite have as many views on what the big election issues are in 2013 as could be expected from the biggest electorate in Victoria.
"Well job security's always a problem, isn't it?"/"Probably unemployment - a lot of people I know are in that situation."/"I think looking after small business..."/"I think it would be dealing wiith homelessness in the area as well as greater Geelong, and also youth recreation sort of things - there's a lot of youth in the area that don't have much at the moment."/"... Small business seems to be struggling under a lot of paperwork ..."/"Refugees. Bit of a worry, I feel."/"... if we could lessen the red tape, it would be great."
Corangamite's sitting member is Labor's Darren Cheeseman, elected in 2007.
Mr Cheeseman says Corangamite's size makes it demographically very diverse.
"It covers about 7,000 square kilometres. It's Labor's largest seat in Victoria and it's got a very diverse population within that seat. We've got some of the outer suburbs of Geelong, we've got some of the coastal villages along the Great Ocean Rd and along the Bellarine Peninsula, then of course we've got farming communities out around Colac and throught the northwest of the seat."
Mr Cheeseman claims the biggest issue for Corangamite's voters will be jobs and job security.
"Labor has a very strng jobs plan for this region. We're bringing the National Disability head office here, creating around 400 jobs. We're working to create new manufacturing opportunities through the Geelong Innovation and Investment Fund, to which federal Labor is the largest contributor. So jobs is the most important issue but obviously education is important, health is important - these are the key issues."
Liberal candidate Sarah Henderson agrees it's largely about jobs and there are issues that can contribute to that push.
"Well locally I've been fighting very hard for road upgrades - the Great Ocean Road is an iconic tourist road that I've been fighting for. The Labor party have made it clear they are against any upgrade to the Great Ocean Road which is very disappointing. We've already committed $1.5 billion to the east-west link, so we are about building infrastructure. We are about investing in local communities, investing in community infrastructure, and we are all about jobs."
Ms Henderson says because the race is so close in this seat, every vote will count.
"Well the margin is 0.3 per cent - it's a very very close seat and it's a very diverse seat. But certainly we are seeing massive cost-of-living pressures on families, we are seeing the carbon tax, which is a tax on jobs here in Geelong and across Corangamite, and a tax on manufacturing. The news of Ford packing up and ending its manufacturing operations here in Australia has been a devastating blow."
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