An Australian bishop has said he will reordain any Anglican priests who were ordained by a woman bishop before they can work in his diocese.
Ross Davies, Bishop of The Murray in South Australia, told his diocesan synod that a move for women bishops failed at the last Australian general synod in 2001 and would be put in a new form in Perth in October.
Women bishops have replaced homosexuality as the most corrosive issue within the Anglican Church in Australia today.
Bishop Davies said the new proposal, with a "minimalist" plan for alternative oversight for those who can't accept women bishops, would create new difficulties.
"All I can do is put on the record that I would need to reordain any man purportedly ordained before a woman bishop before I could license him," he said.
Bishop Davies, whose diocese is strongly Anglo-Catholic, told The Sunday Age: "I made these comments because I wanted to be some sort of voice for those who are opposed to the ordination of women. My opinions are in accord with the majority of Anglicans worldwide. The centre of gravity is in Africa and Asia. But I'm not a self-appointed leader - we are a very small corner of the world."
"We understand they are deeply held and quite principled, but the legislation does propose a level of care for such people." (Visiting bishops are proposed for such parishes.)
One Anglican expected to play a key role in the general synod discussions observed acidly of Bishop Davies: "There's no way known any man who was ordained by a woman would want to work in his diocese anyway."
To pass, the legislation needs a two-thirds majority in each of the three houses: bishops, clergy and laity. Early attempts at number-counting within the church suggests it is too close to call.