Several New South Wales MPs say they want their own bodies turned into “human compost” after Australian-first laws allowing the unusual practice were passed on Wednesday to provide a third legal option other than burial and cremation for the treatment of bodies.

The private member’s bill was introduced by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who travelled to Germany and the US to research the practice, which is allowed in some parts of both countries.

The practice, known as natural organic reduction, termination or human composting, involves placing the body in a temperature-controlled vessel with organic matter such as alfalfa, straw or mulch. Once inside, the vessel is turned or rocked to circulate air. The introduced matter reacts with the air and feeds the body’s naturally occurring microbes to rapidly decompose the body. The process creates heat that, after about 30 days, transforms the body into soil. When rested for about 30 days more, the vessel contains about 110kg of “dry, rich soil that is fertile and free of pathogens”, Greenwich told the legislative assembly earlier this year.

In the legislative council on Wednesday, John Ruddick, a Libertarian MP, said he backed what Greens MP Dr Amanda Cohn said in supporting the bill: he thought it was likely he would choose this burial method over a burial plot or cremation.

Liberal MP Susan Carter urged the government to consider when it implemented the bill how to ensure the dead were respected. Emma Hurst MP, the Animal Justice MP who introduced the bill into the legislative council, told parliament on Wednesday that terramation had significant environmental benefits, explaining that it avoids the need for large burial plots and can be wholly carbon neutral, compared with cremation, which she said was energy intensive and released substantial greenhouse gas emissions.

Helen Haines, the independent federal MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, has had both legs amputated but is in a stable condition after an alleged attack in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon.

Security agencies will review safety precautions for MPs’ homes and offices after numerous federal politicians told police and Asio in safety briefings that they were worried about widening threats after the alleged attack on Haines.

The Labor government and politicians across the parliament are still considering how they will respond when they return to Canberra next week, with ideas being floated including a new committee on MPs’ safety, greater resources for police, and motions of condolence for Haines, who lost both her legs after Monday’s incident. Renewed calls from the crossbench for reforms to question time and the tone of debate in parliament are unlikely to be taken up by the major parties.

In safety briefings with the Australian federal police and Asio granted to Labor, Coalition and crossbench MPs on Wednesday, security of homes and electorate offices was a common concern, according to Guardian Australia interviews with 10 MPs. While a broad review of safety and security is unlikely at this stage, multiple MPs across the political spectrum admitted they had spent thousands of dollars of their own money to install safety features based on the advice of the federal police.

Federal ministers receive stronger security assistance but numerous backbenchers said they felt under-resourced, saying many angry constituents may see all politicians as a homogenous group, and may not differentiate between cabinet members and ordinary local MPs.

With Victoria’s election approaching, local political parties are actively vying for the support of Australia’s largest immigrant population.

However, the heated debates on national security and immigration, fueled by various parties’ plans to reduce net overseas migration, have led many Indian-Australians to believe that politicians are merely spouting platitudes without truly defending the significant economic and social value of immigrants to Australia.

Many Indian-Australian voters feel overwhelmed by the state’s stagnant economy following the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic and social problems. While many Indian-Australian voters are generally conservative and ambitious, potentially representing a strong support base for the Liberal Party, the political atmosphere and rhetoric of some parties have led them to feel alienated from traditional right-wing parties, as mainstream parties “don’t like people like them.”

Despite the active campaigning by Labor and Liberal Party leaders at large community events like Diwali and their emphasis on the importance of minority votes, community representatives point out that politicians at these events only offer empty rhetoric, failing to explicitly and loudly affirm the genuine economic and cultural value that immigrants bring to Australia in their daily public discourse.