Pussy Riot takes swipe at Murdoch

Members of punk band Pussy Riot have taken a swipe at media mogul Rupert Murdoch during their visit to Australia.

While discussing how to get rid of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nadya Tolokonnikova told the audience at a Sydney festival to create their own media outlets.

"So don't give all media to Rupert Murdoch," she said on Sunday.

The Russian singer and political activist said media outlets, including blogs, were needed in both "authoritarian Russia" and democratic Australia.

"Bring forward your ideas," she said at Sydney's Festival of Dangerous Ideas.

Masha Alyokhina said it was important to hold politicians accountable to their promises, especially tough talk on Putin.

She said the Russian president should be excluded from international groups and communities.

"We often feel politicians have a short memory," she said.

"So we call on you to ask your own politicians not to have this short memory."

Both Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova spent 22 months in jail after staging a protest performance in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.

But the women said the situation in Russia was so repressive they would not be able to repeat their cathedral performance.

Since their imprisonment, the women have campaigned to defend the rights of prisoners.