Unions have slammed McDonald’s and its Australian franchisees being paid up to $72 million to subsidise trainee pay under a Morrison government-era program designed to “shore up” the nation’s skills pipeline.

McDonald’s Australia and its franchisees were the biggest beneficiaries of the Coalition’s $5.8 billion trainee and apprenticeship wage subsidy, more than double the second-biggest user, Grill’d, which took $30 million.