About Ngātata Love
Lived 1937 – 2018 (aged 81). Ngātata Love was a New Zealand academic and professor.
Sir Ralph Heberley Love (7 September 1937 – 17 October 2018), known as Ngātata Love, was a New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal negotiator, academic and Māori leader. Love was a professor emeritus of business development at Victoria University of Wellington's Victoria Management School. In 2016 he was convicted of defrauding his own iwi, taking payments of $1.5 million. Both he and his father were defeated at the 1968 elections.
In 1990, Love was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 2001 New Year Honours, Love was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order 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, 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 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 (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. 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.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ngātata Love's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Ngātata Love?
New Zealand academic and Maori leader (1937-2018)
When was Ngātata Love born?
Ngātata Love was born on 7 September 1937 in Lower Hutt, Hutt Valley.
When did Ngātata Love die?
Ngātata Love died on 17 October 2018 in Korokoro.
What was Ngātata Love's occupation?
Ngātata Love was an academic and professor.
What nationality was Ngātata Love?
Ngātata Love was New Zealand.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ngātata Love. https://biography.guide/ngatata-love/
MLA: "Ngātata Love." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ngatata-love/.
Chicago: "Ngātata Love." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ngatata-love/.
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