A former detective says wanted fugitive Dezi Freeman "clearly" received help in his months on the run before he was killed by police gunfire at a remote Victorian property yesterday.

Freeman, 56, had not been seen in public since two police officers were killed in a shooting ambush on his property in Porepunkah, Victoria, on August 26 last year.

In the seven months since, police received thousands of pieces of information, before a final tip led them to a property at Thologolong, about 150km by road from Porepunkah.

READ MORE: Inside the police operation that killed Dezi Freeman

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Freeman, who was living in a shipping container on the property, refused to surrender to officers and was killed after he emerged from the container while armed with a gun and wrapped in a blanket.

Police are working to determine whether he was in possession of the gun used to kill Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, at Porepunkah.

Former Victoria Police detective Charlie Bezzina said police would have acted cautiously on the information that led them to the property, including surveilling it for more than a day to confirm Freeman was there.

He said the operation would have been a difficult one, given the openness of the property in particular.

"The only advantage (police) had, there were no other people that could be put in danger," Bezzina told Today.

"Ultimately, he's got nothing to lose."

FUEL CRISIS: When will fuel prices in Australia go down?

Bezzina said while Freeman, a self-declared "sovereign citizen", may not have needed much help, it's likely he would have received some while on the run.

"He had a head start before the actual SOG (Special Operations Group) got there," he said.

"I've learned since then, there are other sovereign citizens actually in Porepunkah that would have been sympathetic to his cause."

Bezzina suggested Freeman could have approached somebody for assistance, particularly given the distance and terrain between Porepunkah and Thologolong.

"He'd have to be assisted because he's getting food and nourishment and water to that location," he said.

"He couldn't walk into town, because country people know you're a stranger, and ultimately, he couldn't afford it."

There is no suggestion any particular person, nor anybody linked to the property where Freeman was found, offered assistance to the fugitive.

Yesterday, Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush said he was "sure" Freeman had received help.

"It would be very difficult for him to get to where he was, if that is in fact him, without assistance," he said.

"We will be speaking to anybody who we suspect may have assisted him to avoid detection or arrest."

He pledged to bring charges against anybody complicit in Freeman's flight.

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Australians are set to see some much-needed relief at the petrol pump after Anthony Albanese announced the reduction of a key fuel tax for three months.

The fuel excise, a tax on petrol, will be halved, seeing petrol prices finally go down after soaring for weeks due to the supply issues arising from the Middle East conflict.

These changes and others will take effect soon, with Australians now having more certainty as to when they will pay less at the bowser.

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When will petrol prices go down?

The fuel excise cut will go into effect tomorrow on April 1.

Given it will be signed into law, it means it will have an instant impact on the cost of fuel, with Albanese claiming it would reduce the cost of petrol by 26.3 cents per litre.

But – stations will have to first sell the batch of fuel they had paid for at the full rate of fuel excise.

So on April 1 the changes may not be immediate, unless you are filling up at a station that has a high turnover of fuel, and a new batch taxed at the half rate has already been bought and filled.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers elaborated and said filling up a 65l tank with petrol would be $19 cheaper once the changes happen.

According to the latest figures released by the Australian Institute of Petroleum, unleaded petrol costs around $2.53 a litre, with diesel well over $3 a litre, which is why farmers and heavy transport industries are being hit particularly hard.

A further measure of relief is the temporary halt of the heavy road vehicle user charge, which hits truckies with a 32.6 cents per litre charge on diesel.

This will also be in place for three months.

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Why is petrol so expensive right now?

Longer term, the price of oil will continue to keep petrol prices high, and that is something out of the governments control.

Crude oil currently costs around $115 a barrel; it was sitting in and around the $65 region before the Middle East conflict broke out and impacted the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane in the region for worldwide oil trade.

Not only is oil more expensive, the volatile situation in the Middle East means it is harder for oil to get to Australia, even though the government insists supply isn't a longer-term issue at the moment.

With increased demand, more people are rushing to fill up – some even hoarding petrol – which is leading to shortages and more pain at the pump for Australians in the cities and in the rural areas.

READ MORE: Why NSW government has decided not to offer free public transport for commuters amid fuel crisis

Are petrol stations running out of fuel?

Hundreds of petrol stations across Australia have reported running out of petrol or diesel at different points in the last two weeks.

It is difficult to ascertain the true levels, though states and territories often release daily figures of how many petrol stations are out of fuel.

Some petrol stations run out of both petrol and diesel, though some only run out of one or the other.

For example in New South Wales last weekend, 66 petrol stations were out of fuel.

However, Transport Minister John Graham said some regional areas that were low on fuel previously had been resupplied.

READ MORE: The timeline of events from Porepunkah shooting to cop-killer's death

How long will these petrol prices last?

As mentioned before, the only way we will see prolonged relief at the pump will be when the price of oil drops.

That almost exclusively hinges on the fate of the Middle East conflict, which shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.

NSW Premier Chris Minns cautioned his state to prepare for long-term disruption as a result of the war.

"I am not seeing any indication that this will be resolved in 30 days," Minns said.

"I don't know whether it is going to be over in a week, or whether it's going to be a prolonged situation… but we have got to prepare for every eventuality."

How many days of petrol does Australia have left?

Energy Minister Chris Bowen insisted Australia still has a month of supply of petrol, and said shipments are still coming in despite some cancellations.

Briefing parliament yesterday, he said the country has nine days' worth of petrol, 30 days' worth of diesel; and 30 days' worth of jet fuel.

Bowen said any shipments that were cancelled have been more than properly replaced, as he looks to ease fears of a drop in supply.

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