In the speech, which was broadcast on all major television and radio networks on Wednesday night, Anthony Albanese also warned there may be difficult times ahead.
He urged people to consider getting public transport instead of driving and told motorists heading on road trips over Easter to only take as much fuel as they needed as the global oil crisis drags on.
"That builds our reserves and it saves fuel for people who have no choice but to drive: farmers and miners and tradies who need diesel, every single day," he said.
But Angus Taylor suggested Mr Albanese was talking down to Australians and the televised speech was the wrong way to address the fuel crisis.
"It could have been a social media post," Angus Taylor told ABC Radio on Thursday.
"Mateship and looking after each other is a core value of Australians, so I'm not going to lecture Australians about what they should do, but what the government needs to do is to give us clarity," he said.
However, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the address struck the right cord at a time when Australians are anxious.
"We're seeing the biggest shock to petrol and diesel prices ever," he told reporters in Canberra.
"There is uncertainty about what the future holds, and in that moment it's really important and appropriate that the prime minister is speaking directly to the Australian people."
While intended to calm Australians as the Middle East war and resulting fuel crisis worsens, the address could have the opposite effect, former Liberal adviser Tony Barry told AAP.
Mr Albanese currently has a negative 17 favourability rating according to Mr Barry's firm Redbridge, well behind Mr Taylor and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
The pollster said a prime minister giving an address to the nation with such a low approval rating was a recipe for disaster.
"Standing up and telling everybody not to panic is a sure way to make everybody panic," he said.
"People are observing that going to the petrol station is now like a scene from Mad Max.
"They'll be expecting solutions from the government," he said.
The decision to cut the fuel excise but then tell motorists to consider avoiding unnecessary petrol and diesel use was also politically flawed, Mr Barry said.
"He's reduced the price of petrol, and now he's telling people don't buy this cheaper petrol."
Mr Albanese's televised address came ahead of US President Donald Trump's major address about the Middle East war, due on Thursday (AEDT).
Western Australia's government on Wednesday activated emergency powers, allowing it to force the fuel industry to share information about its supply chains.
The move will allow the state government to demand specific details about where fuel is and where it's needed, in a bid to alleviate shortages in some areas.
The change is not the same as declaring a state of emergency as was done during the pandemic, Premier Roger Cook said, but was rather targeted specifically at the fuel industry.
"Unfortunately our efforts are being hampered by not having full visibility of the fuel supply chain," he told reporters in Perth.
"In some cases we don't know where fuel is or where it will go."
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