Consultants in strategic business management, science & technology and regional development

Our People

Science Matters’ Managing Director and Principal Consultant is Dr Doug McGhie, supported by Senior Consultant Mr John Tolhurst. We also maintain excellent relationships with an outstanding group of Associates with whom many assignments have been successfully completed.

Doug McGhie

Dr Doug McGhie is Managing Director of Science Matters Pty Ltd, established after operating under the banner of Doug McGhie and Associates for 15 successful years. Previously he was Kimberley Regional Manager for the Department of Agriculture and served as the Australian Institute of Management’s Principal Consultant for 2 years. He had 20 years of Government experience with the Department of Agriculture.

Doug’s specialist fields include the development of:

With over 35 years experience in government and the private sector he is well placed to lead large scale community consultation, and to assist industry with its government relations. He is an accredited Business Planning, Enterprise Improvement Program, and Human Resources Planning Consultant

John Tolhurst

John Tolhurst is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) of the Institute of Management Consultants, who has practiced continuously since 1992. He has considerable experience in business planning, research and analysis. John Science Matters' Senior Consultant and has worked consistently with Doug McGhie in the technology and regional development field since 1999.

John has carried out strategic market research and planning for companies looking to enter the Western Australian energy industry and has prepared numerous industry reports for Scottish Development International often leading to new joint ventures or alliances. In 2003 John developed an information memorandum for Cool Energy Pty Ltd in collaboration with Techstart which attracted multimillion dollar funding. In 2000 John consulted to the President of the Communist Party and to the Mayor of Urumuqi City (Xingjian, North West China) on the financing strategy for completion of the city's natural gas reticulation network. In 2004, John designed a new configuration of recumbent bicycle, in 2005 founded cruzbike.com, an e-business selling Western Australian product to the U.S.A. and in 2006 co-founded Cruzbike Inc.