"It's a travesty this Government does not consider it a priority to invest in a low-cost means to make houses warm and dry. I think of the houses where small children are constantly sick and [have] asthma and other respiratory conditions.
"I think of the woman I spoke to on the doorstep of her un-insulated South Dunedin flat in mid-winter who did not get out of bed before midday because she couldn't afford to heat her home. Her story is common across South Dunedin. What a difference warm and dry houses would make to their lives."
In Dunedin, 40,000 residential dwellings were built before 1978 insulation standards were introduced.
Many of those dwellings needed urgent attention, Ms Curran, the first female MP for Dunedin South, said.
During her speech, she paid tribute to the MPs who had served the electorate before her, including Michael Cullen and David Benson-Pope, who was the Labour MP when Ms Curran won the acrimonious selection contest to be the party's candidate.
Looking ahead, she pledged to work constructively for Dunedin with Dunedin North Labour MP Pete Hodgson, Labour list MP David Parker and National list MP Michael Woodhouse.
Dunedin South had a long and proud history, she said.
For decades, it had been a safe Labour seat and it remained a safe Labour seat.
While the electorate could claim to represent the can-do attitude of New Zealanders and the stoic nature of the early settlers to take whatever life offered and make the best of it, for many in Dunedin South, life was hard.
That was particularly so for the low-paid and pensioners.
Seventy percent of people in the electorate aged 15 and over had an income of $40,000 or less.
"I'm here to make sure their voices are heard."
Ms Curran also used her past experience at running a small business to attack the Government's 90-day employment trial-period legislation passed under urgency last week.
"I understand that small business is the backbone of our country. I also understand the importance of balance and fairness in the relationship between employers and employees to drive productivity.
"Introducing a law that allows employers to fire at will in the first 90 days isn't about fairness. It's about exploitation and will create insecurity."
Instead of taking rights and protection away from ordinary people, Parliament should create new opportunities such as using information technology to drive economic growth.
Parliament needed to pay more attention to building strong communities that provided people with better choices: the ability to work flexibly, live in well-resourced communities with strong public-transport links and good-quality housing.
Mr Woodhouse gives his maiden speech today.
