Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chairman, Geoff Clark, has called for a moratorium on all mining activity in Australia.

However the Minerals Council of Australia says the proposition is fanciful.

Mr Clark has issued a statement from a United Nations Indigenous forum in New York, saying Australia has been riding on the back of Aboriginal people for too long.

He says more than 80 UN resolutions back the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and all mining in Australia should end until fair and equitable payments are made to Aboriginal people.

The Mineral Council of Australia's chief executive, Mitchell Hooke, says Mr Clark is out of touch.

"There has been an evolution a change in attitudes to the point where there is now a degree of synergy evolving out of mutual respect for the traditional land owners and the recognitions of the mutual benefits of working in partnership."