Sir Ralph Heberley Love (7 September 1937 – 17 October 2018), known as Ngātata Love, was a New Zealand

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

negotiator, academic and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

leader. Love was a Professor Emeritus of Business Development at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

's Victoria Management School. In 2016 he was convicted of defrauding his own

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

, taking payments of $1.5 million.

Biography

Ralph Heberley Love was born in 1937, the son of the

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...

leader Sir Ralph Love, and his wife, Lady Flora. He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...

and attended university part-time. When his father was elected

Mayor of Petone The Mayor of Petone officiated over the Petone Borough of New Zealand, which was administered by the Petone Borough Council. The office existed from 1882 until 1989, when Petone Borough was amalgamated into the Hutt City Council as part of the 19 ...

in 1965 he was likewise elected as a member of the Petone Borough Council at the same election. Both he and his father were defeated at the 1968 elections. In the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipie ...

, Love was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services. He was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. t ...

, and later that year accepted re-designation as a Knight Grand Companion of the same order following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government. At the same time Love stated that he is a supporter of a

New Zealand republic New Zealand Republic Inc. (formerly the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Republican Coalition of New Zealand) is an organisation formed in 1994 whose object is to support the creation of a New Zealand republic. The campaign ...

and that "Even though I am an avowed republican, we must never abandon the history we share with Britain. Particularly at times of conflict." In March 2009, Love suggested that secondary students should have the option of going to

wānanga In the education in New Zealand, education system of New Zealand, a wānanga is a state sector organisations in New Zealand, publicly-owned Tertiary education, tertiary institution or Māori people, Māori university that provides education in a ...

(Māori tertiary institutions) rather than staying at school. Three years later he stepped aside from a number of positions representing Māori and the Serious Fraud Office said it was investigating a matter in relation to the Wellington Tenths Trust.SFO probes deals by Tenths Trust
Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved on 28 April 2016. In August 2016, Love went on trial, accused of defrauding his iwi. The Crown accused Love of taking two payments worth $1.5 million in late 2006 and early 2007. The payments were in exchange for showing favour toward Redwood Group, a property developer looking to develop Wellington Tenths Trust land near Parliament. He was found guilty on 1 September 2016. Love was subsequently sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment. He died at his home in Korokoro on 17 October 2018 and was privately cremated without a tangi. At the time of his death, Love was being pursued for bankruptcy by the lawyers from his criminal trial. Notable students of Love include Takiora Ingram.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Ngatata 1937 births 2018 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Wellington New Zealand Māori academics Te Āti Awa people Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Knights Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealanders convicted of fraud New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand republicans Petone Borough Councillors