AUSTRALIA put an army general in charge of flood recovery yesterday after weeks of heavy rains deluged the country’s coal-producing north-east, crippling the area’s economy and sending out reverberations felt in energy markets around the world.

A report into a huge oil spill off Australia strikingly similar to the Gulf Coast one was handed to the government today.

NATURAL Resources Minister Noel Dempsey has defended the Government’s renewable energy strategy, saying they plan to triple the amount of such energy over the next four years.