Sir Ralph Heberley Love GNZM QSO JP (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]
Biography
editRalph 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]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Maori leader: honour reflects work of many". TVNZ. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
- ^ Ngatata Love – School of Management – Victoria University of Wellington Archived 16 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Victoria.ac.nz, 23 August 2012; retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Sir Ngatata Love sentenced to two and a half years in prison". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ "Maoris and Chinese are Elected". The Evening Post. 11 October 1965. p. 21.
- ^ "Petone". The Evening Post. 14 October 1968. p. 13.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ "Special honours list 1 August 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ "Grand day for Sir Ngatata". New Zealand Herald. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Arise and awaken Sir Ngatata". The Dominion Post. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Educator proposes radical approach for Maori students". Stuff. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ^ SFO probes deals by Tenths Trust. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved on 28 April 2016.
- ^ "Professor Sir Ngatata Love, leading academic and treaty negotiator, on trial for defrauding his iwi". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^ "Sir Ngatata Love should lose knighthood – Tenths Trust beneficiary call". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Māori leader Sir Ngātata Love dies". The New Zealand Herald. 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Māori leader Sir Ngātata Love dies". Stuff.
- ^ "Wellington Māori leader Sir Ngātata Love dies". 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Sir Ngātata Love 'worked extraordinarily hard for his people'". 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Sir Ngātata Love bankrupted over lawyer's fees from criminal trial". Stuff.
- ^ "Lawyers chase Sir Ngātata Love over unpaid bills from criminal trial". Stuff.
- ^ Ingram, Pamela Takiora (1990). Indigenous entrepreneurship and tourism development in the Cook Islands and Fiji (PhD thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University.