my $contents =<<EOT;

####################
# GEOGRAPHY CONFIG #
####################

environment.type = eu
deployment.type = au

EOT

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use warnings;

my $contents = "

####################
# GEOGRAPHY CONFIG #
####################

environment.type = eu
deployment.type = au";

if ( $contents !~ /deployment.type = (\w+)/gm)
{
    print "ERROR: deployment.type not found in contents\n";
}
else
{
    print "deployment.type matched\n";
}

$contents =~ /./g; # <-- this search passes end of string, and resets

if ( $contents !~ /environment.type = (\w+)/gm )
{
    print "ERROR: environment.type not found in contents\n";
}
else
{
    print "environment.type matched\n";
}
__END__

qwurx [shmem] 01:36 ~ > perl au.pl 
deployment.type matched
environment.type matched