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Sir Ralph Heberley LoveGNZMQSOJP (7 September 1937 – 17 October 2018), known as Ngātata Love, was a New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal negotiator, academic and Māori leader.[1] Love was a professor emeritus of business development at Victoria University of Wellington's Victoria Management School.[2] In 2016 he was convicted of defrauding his own iwi, taking payments of $1.5 million.[3]
Ralph Heberley Love was born in 1937, the son of the Te Āti Awa leader Sir Ralph Love, and his wife, Lady Flora.[1] He was educated at Wellington College and attended university part-time.[1] When his father was elected Mayor of Petone in 1965 he was likewise elected as a member of the Petone Borough Council at the same election.[4] Both he and his father were defeated at the 1968 elections.[5]
In the 2001 New Year Honours, Love was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.[6] He was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori in the 2009 New Year Honours,[7] 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.[8][9]
At the same time Love stated that he is a supporter of a New Zealand republic and that "Even though I am an avowed republican, we must never abandon the history we share with Britain. Particularly at times of conflict."[10]
In March 2009, Love suggested that secondary students should have the option of going to wānanga (Māori tertiary institutions) rather than staying at school.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] He was found guilty on 1 September 2016.[14] Love was subsequently sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.[3]
He died at his home in Korokoro on 17 October 2018[15] and was privately cremated without a tangi.[16][17][18] At the time of his death, Love was being pursued for bankruptcy by the lawyers from his criminal trial.[19][20]
Notable students of Love include Takiora Ingram.[21]