HAWTHORN president Jeff Kennett has called on Melbourne to relocate to the Gold Coast.

Speaking at a charity function on Thursday night, Kennett said he did not believe Melbourne, which is headed towards a hefty operating loss this year, had “a long-term future” unless it shifted north.

It was “fool’s gold” to think the club could survive in Melbourne.

Asked what advice he would give to possible Melbourne presidential candidate and club legend Jim Stynes, Kennett said, “If Jimmy Stynes wants to stand for the presidency at Melbourne, like any young person I encourage him to give it a go, but my advice to him would be to bite the bullet and establish the Gold Coast Demons because I don't think Melbourne, as it is at the moment, has a long term future in this code.”

"It needs to do something dramatic if it is to get the financial support and the consumer and sponsorship support (it needs).

"For the teams in the last four positions (on the ladder) at the end of this year, it is going to be very, very hard to rebuild within the next 10 years.

"There is no way Andrew (Demetriou) is going to allow any of the weaker clubs to rebuild through the drafting process through the next 10 years. It's almost going to be impossible with what is proposed, so that makes it hard."

The comments, reported in Friday’s Herald Sun, came as the former premier took part in a panel at a charity event which also included league chief executive Andrew Demetriou, Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon and Collingwood chief Eddie McGuire.

Kennett’s views are sure to add spice to Sunday’s clash between the Hawks and the Demons at the MCG. The two clubs entered merger negotiations in the mid-90s with Melbourne considered to be the stronger entity in the proposed partnership before a fan revolt caused the talks to be abandoned.

Melbourne president Paul Gardner went on Melbourne radio station SEN to rebut Kennett’s argument.

“It’s never been a discussion at all. I think the big fork in the road for us was obviously 1996 when we talked about the merger with Hawthorn at that stage,” he said.

“That was the big ‘do we change our identity?’ and it was shown then that the members want us to stay, the supporters want us to stay, the AFL want us to stay and we want to stay.

“The only person who seems to want us to go is Jeff.”

Kennett insisted prevailing harsh financial realities, both in the present and the future, and not sentiment should guide the Melbourne board’s decision-making process on the issue.

“You have to make sure you don’t overly embrace the emotions of a football club as opposed to a business, and taking on a club like Melbourne is a wonderful governance challenge. But if I was in that area now, I wouldn’t waste any more time,” he said.

“Melbourne cannot support 10 clubs 10 years from now. It probably can’t support 10 clubs five years from now unless the AFL substantially subsidises them.”

Gardner maintained there were financial inequities present in the league that mainly centred on stadium deals, and he also suspected the Hawks’ president had an ulterior agenda.

“Realistically this all boils down to one fact, which is the introduction of 17th and 18th teams and the concessions being offered to those teams in terms of the draft,” he said.

“Clearly Jeff doesn’t like those concessions and he’s looking for another alternative which is ‘why don’t we move a whole team lock, stock and barrel’.

“If he’s that keen on the Gold Coast he should move Hawthorn there.”