[2][3] Lionel Rose was defeated in Alice Springs by 17 votes, however NAP candidate Tony Greatorex won a large majority in the sparsely populated seat of Stuart.

The results in both seats were controversial, with the unsuccessful candidates claiming that their opponents had engaged in illegal conduct to secure the votes of Indigenous constituents.

[4] Rose claimed that Labor candidate Charles Orr had bribed voters with alcohol, and petitioned the Court of Disputed Returns to overturn the result.

David Smith, the Labor candidate in Stuart, petitioned the court to unseat Greatorex on the grounds that campaign workers had intimidated and misled Aboriginal voters.

[5] Independent Barkly MLC Len Purkiss died from silicosis shortly after the election on 24 November 1965.