Should people on terrorism watch lists be locked up indefinitely?

A former Australian military commander is calling for people on terrorism watch lists to be locked up without trial while authorities gather evidence against them.

Retired Royal Australian Army major general Jim Molan made the call for indefinite detention without conviction in certain cases while declaring: "It's time to give up even more rights."

The call came before it was revealed a man gunned down in a shootout with police was acquitted of trying to blow up a Sydney army base in 2010.

It's a call commentators equate to prevention being better than a cure, but could the fierce prescription harm our civil liberties?

Weighing in on the former military top brass' call, 4BC radio host Ben Davis said we needed to ask what rights as a society "are we willing to give up to actually feel safe and secure?"

"It is about having a watch list and being able to act on it," Davis told Seven's Sunrise.

"We need to get some skin in the game here. And when you get some skin in the game sometimes you get a grazed knee. I'm happy to get the grazed knee.

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"How many times have we seen or heard that they were on a watch list, but we don't have the ability to watch them?" the radio host said.

There are 400 people on a watch list in Australia, but that does not mean they are surveilled 24 hours a day, Molan said.

Davis pointed out the nature of many terrorism investigations relies on intelligence gathering, based on information from sources and informants that cannot be revealed.

"Otherwise they give up the game straight away," Davis said.

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But the radio host acknowledged the former general's call did not meet our "civil standards".

"The whole idea, I guess, this is about countering terrorism," he said.

"What rights as a society are we willing to give up to actually feel safe and secure? That is a question you have to ask yourself."

Sunrise host Samantha Armytage said the people who "commit these crimes are usually known to terror authorities".

Davis agreed, saying: "They are known. They are on a watch list. They know we don't have the capabilities to sit and watch them 24-7.

"How about prevention better than cure," Davis said.

For more 'Hot Topic' discussions, tune in to Sunrise from 5am on weekdays.